We Get A Love Story
by Ebhenah
Summary: It is has been years since Allura saved all realities. Keith asks Lance to accompany him to Daibazaal to speak at a University. He's shocked when Lance agrees. What was meant to be a low-key 'space road trip' takes an unexpected turn thanks to a small miscommunication that is a big headache to undo. Thankfully, Lance is a good sport about the whole thing.
1. Chapter 1 of 4- The Houston

**(A/N: I wrote this for the Hey, Sharpshooter Bang and it is posted on my AO3 as well. ****My beloved beta is such a trooper, because I signed up for a 20k fic and then _tripled_ the word count, and she didn't throttle me for it! So, big love to /PunkInGlitter for being awesome! It was really great working with you! ****The _amazing_ art for this fic can be found here post/186802482426/rating-mature-tags-topics-of-suicide-self-harm and was done by .comwho is so talented and sweet and so much fun to work with. I love this piece so much, I really do!)**

* * *

Krolia was hunting, the space wolf having tagged along with her- which meant that Keith was alone at the little camp they'd made to serve as 'home' while they traveled through the Quantum Abyss. He'd always enjoyed solitude, but after nearly 2 years of only his mother and a wolf as company, he thought he might have reached his lifetime quota. When they'd first arrived, Krolia had really pushed for them to try to avoid the flashes of light that brought visions of the past and future. Before long, she hadn't had to, because he'd gotten used to doing that himself. But eventually, he found himself almost seeking them out. He missed his friends. He missed Shiro. He missed **Lance.**

He'd gotten into the habit of ignoring the sizzling awareness he had of the other Paladin; the attraction and frustration and fascination he had with the tall sniper. He'd gotten good at dodging Shiro's occasional questions and ignoring the pointed looks he got from his closest friend when Lance's flirting would sour his mood. He'd gotten **really** good at putting as much distance between himself and Lance's obvious infatuation with Allura as possible- which turned out to be a **lot** of distance once he'd joined up with the Blade full time. Here in the Quantum Abyss, with only his mother and a wolf and his own thoughts to keep him company, it had eventually become impossible to pretend that all that dodging and ignoring and removing himself had been nothing but running away from a truth he didn't like. He didn't **like** that he'd fallen for the loudmouthed, soft-hearted, blue-eyed guy, but that didn't change the fact that he **had**.

He missed Lance and Shiro the most, but he missed them all and sometimes, the visions brought them back to searing, vivid life for just a few ticks. It made missing them hurt a little sharper, but it also made him feel a little less alone… and feeling less alone had become incredibly precious. So, yeah- he caught himself hoping for those flashes of light that bent time and reality and provided a bit of a break from the crushing sameness of day to day life on the space whale.

Most of the time, it was a flash of the past, which was usually his favorite. Something to solidify his own memories of them as they started to fade and warp with time apart. Sometimes, it gave him a glimpse of memory from a different point of view- something that happened when he was present but focused on something else. He usually liked those, too- it helped him understand his former teammates a bit better- but on occasion, the new perspective was… kind of awful.

Glimpses from the time when Shiro was missing were bad. He'd been **there,** but so caught up in his own anger, and fear, and pain that he'd been blind to the suffering of the people around him and completely clueless to how much worse he was making it for everyone else by shutting them out. Pidge and Allura working themselves into exhaustion. Hunk spiraling into anxiety that kept him awake and drove him to small, repetitive patterns for some tiny measure of comfort. Lance, though, Lance was the worst. He'd gone quiet- and no one had really noticed how he'd started to melt into shadows unless he was pushing himself to try to comfort someone else. He'd kind of deflate, and then rally, urging Pidge to sleep, or Allura to eat, or trying to distract Hunk. In most of those flashes, there was a common point that made Keith feel small and awful… Lance would pause in whatever he was trying to do to caretake someone and glance at Keith- eyes worried and pleading and filled with… something he didn't really understand. He'd glance, like he was calling in backup, and his eyes would change and he'd just crumple when Keith didn't respond. In others, there was a completely different common thread that made Keith feel small and awful- the ones where Lance would reach out to him, trying to help, trying to be a friend, trying to comfort him- and he'd shoot him down and shut him out. How had he missed how much of Lance's antics were attempts to lighten the mood, or cheer people up, or just... **connect**?

Flashes from his time at the Garrison were similar. It hadn't taken many for Lance's 'rivalry' with him to start making sense. Iverson was an ass to everyone, not just to Keith and it didn't take long to see that he'd used Keith's scores as a weapon against Lance. In the earliest flashes, Lance would blink up at the teacher, his face a mask of indifference, even as his eyes welled up. Once Iverson turned away, Hunk would lean over and whisper to him and Keith could see Lance's face change. It was those memories that made him clue in to something that should have been obvious to him. Lance was from Cuba. His English was exceptionally good, but it wasn't his first language. In those early flashes, he didn't always understand the things that Iverson was screaming at him and he'd needed Hunk to translate some of it.

The entire curriculum at the Garrison was English, which was fine for regular academic classes, but the flight classes and engineering classes were so full of technical terms and jargon that it was hard for kids who'd grown up speaking English to keep up. Hell, he'd had Shiro and Adam helping him with his homework every night and still the vocabulary had been hard to learn. Lance had had to try to keep up with a very competitive program while translating everything in his head- and in flight simulations, he had to do it incredibly quickly to be able to communicate with the others… and still he'd made time to reach out to Keith more than once and warn him against his recklessness. Warnings that had been met with hostility… and then Iverson kept pitting Lance's scores against his own. Adding that information to some things Hunk and Lance had said in passing, he'd realized that even after he'd gone, he was still Iverson's favorite humiliation tactic to use on Lance. No wonder he'd felt like everything had to be some kind of competition between them! Keith was surprised Lance didn't genuinely** hate** him.

When he got back, he was going to apologize to Lance. When he got back, he was going to make a fresh start with all of them. When he got back… things would be so different.

The glimpses of the future confused him- he still wasn't sure if they were things that were definitely going to happen, or just possibilities that could change. He wasn't even sure they were all from this reality- because he'd seen some things that made no sense. Like, a robot similar to Voltron but which dwarfed it the way a Lion would dwarf a Garrison Combat Jet; and fields of extinct juniberries surrounding a statue of Allura. Things like Lance and Allura in what looked like brightly colored Garrison uniforms, her asleep curled against his chest while he spoke softly with him and Acxa; and Pidge and Beezer in some kind of greenhouse as he walked past the wall of windows. Visions of Rolo and Hunk laughing together as he helped them unload a cargo hold; of Lance, but Altean and smiling in a way that was clearly directed at him, but was an expression he'd never seen on his face outside of daydreams. The worst, though, was Shiro, eyes glowing, charging at him with a ferocity that sent chills down his spine.

When he got back, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that last one never came to be.

That was the plan.

Things never really went according to plan, though, did they? When he'd gotten back, he'd landed right in the middle of a crisis, and it led directly into another one. They'd piled up and buried him under their weight and before he knew it, **phoebs** had passed and he'd still never managed to apologize to Lance or really fix things with the team. Things had gone bad and then repaired themselves a couple of times over… and then they'd watched realities blink out of being one by one and Allura had… saved everything. One after another, he'd seen almost all of those seemingly impossible flashes come into being.

At this point, he barely remembered most of them, but one haunted him. That smile. Those soft, affectionate eyes. The blue marks glowing gently in the fading light of sunset. The fragrance that he could now identify as juniberries. It hadn't happened, and he was terrified to let himself believe that it would.

"Helloooo? Earth to Keith!" Lance's voice cut through his wandering thoughts, "dude, Kosmo has been waiting for you to throw that stick for like five minutes. Look at the poor wolf! He's about to shake out of his own skin. Throw it already!"

"What? Oh. Oh! Yeah… right," he shook the cobwebs out of his head and drew his arm back, launching the stick in a graceful arc through the air. ticks later, Kosmo zapped away to catch it. "Listen- Mom's picking Kosmo up tomorrow and I need to leave the day after. I wanted to ask you something…"

"Me? Shoot- I'm an open book," Lance grinned at him and his breath tripped over itself the way it always did when he was the focus of one of Lance's grins.

"I'm headed to Daibazaal, to speak at one of the universities. I want you to come with me. Do your thing- the 'spreading Allura's message' thing."

Lance faltered, "uhhh… I don't know, man. The only time I leave Earth is to go to New Altea for our yearly thing…"

"I know. But I still want you to come. It's a long trip. I'd like to have another pilot with me. Someone I trust."

"Keith," he sighed, "that's a big ask."

"Yeah, I know it is. But I'm still asking." Lance wasn't healing here on Earth. Every time he saw him, it seemed like he had faded a little more. At first, it had made sense for him to stay with his family, to mourn and reconnect. For the first few years, it had really seemed to be what he needed, but lately… Keith hated to say it, but it was as if the fire that had burned inside of Lance had been doused somewhere along the way. This was the only thing he could think of that might help. "Do you remember what I said to you that night? Before your date with Allura?"

"Yeah," Lance nodded, "I remember- God, it was so hard to climb Black with all those pots. I looked like an idiot."

"Well, you let Coran dress you, so…" he trailed off with a shrug, "that's kinda on you."

"The Lance that always has your back, right? That's why you're asking?"

Keith nodded, "I love Daibazaal… but… I hate it, too. It's… a lot…"

"People still trying to convince you to run the whole thing and you just want to be left alone to brood and play with your wolf?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Lance's smile was small and affectionate as he delivered their old joke, "classic Keith." He sighed, "yeah. Alright. I'll go. I mean, I should see Daibazaal at least once now that it's been restored, right?"

"Yeah, you really should." He smiled, bracing as he felt the air crackle so that when Kosmo blinked into being a nanosecond later and fell on him, he didn't get knocked to the ground. "Ugh… Kosmo- you are not a pup anymore! You gotta stop dive-bombing me!"

* * *

Two quintants later, Keith was showing Lance where to stow his gear in his little ship. Compared to the Lions, the Atlas, and the Blade cruisers it was small and unremarkable, but it was **his** and it was a sturdy, and maneuverable little ship that had just enough space to serve as a small apartment when he was on his own. Two grown men sharing the space for the few movements it would take them to get to Daibazaal would be a bit of a challenge, but they weren't teenagers anymore, nor were they strangers. If it was really unbearable, they could split their days into shifts.

"So, does your little houseboat have a name," Lance asked, dropping into the co-pilot's seat, "or are you still waiting for it to name itself?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "it has a name. Houston."

"Your spaceship is the Houston?" He was incredulous.

"Yes, Lance, that's what I said. It's the city my Dad was from. Houston is kind of like home."

"Okay, but… you get that you are kind of begging for NASA jokes, right?"

"Right, because soooo many members of the Blade of Marmora are such huge Earth history buffs," he shook his head and turned his attention to getting underway. "Controls are pretty straightforward. Most things are similar in layout to the Altean shuttles. Hmmm… oh! The comms can be kind of finicky- just give the panel to the left a good thunk and it'll fix it if you are getting video but no sound or sound but no video."

"Seems simple enough. When do I get to put her through her paces?" Excitement laced his voice and Keith couldn't help but smile, he was starting to sound like the old Lance already.

"Let me get her out of the atmosphere first, then we've got a wormhole jump to a Blade base to grab some supplies. Once we head out of there, you can take the wheel. Good?"

"Fair enough. Music?"

"Are you asking if I have any or if you can play your own?" Keith chuckled.

"Like I want to listen to your emo music, Mullet," he pulled out his phone, "if you're flying then roadtrip rules say I'm in charge of navigation, rest stops, snacks, and entertainment."

"Fine. Knock yourself out- you can connect to internal comms… just, the speakers in here are powerful, so… start off with a low volume."

"If it is set to the volume you listen on, I can handle it."

* * *

It took all of three quintants for Keith to realize that he'd been worried about the **wrong **things when they'd started this trip. He and Lance had quickly and easily fallen into old patterns- it felt like they were back to being Black and Red Paladins in many ways. They'd been a mess when they were flying Blue and Red, but once Keith had accepted his role as Team Leader, Lance had excelled as his second in command. That old work dynamic made for great road trip buddies. The conversation was light, and the teasing and bickering was playful, not mean spirited.

It was fun.

They'd also quickly figured out how to maneuver around each other in the small space. At times, it was so effortless it felt almost like some kind of dance or martial arts kata. This was especially obvious in the mornings as they got cleaned up and ate and slowly readied themselves to face the day. Space was always at a premium in little ships like his, and that meant that kitchen and bathroom facilities were almost always convoluted jigsaw puzzles of appliances and storage and water access. It was eerie, the way they could read the other's movements and adjust without thinking about it to avoid crowding each other, weaving and ducking and bending to allow the other to reach what they needed.

He'd worried about fighting and getting on each other's nerves within a quintant. Didn't happen. He'd stressed about clumsy tripping over one another. Not a concern. He'd worried about fighting about routes and stopovers. No issues.

No, the thing that was making this trip difficult was something he hadn't factored into his plans, at all. In his defence, he'd traveled with a lot of people over the years and the things he** had** worried about were, by far, the most common issues. It had been a **long **time since he was in deep space with Lance, and this was the first time they were travelling together without the buffer of the others. It was the first time he'd ever had to spend a significant amount of time with Lance in such a small space and with no one else to give him a break from his company. He hadn't realized how much of an issue his own **feelings** would be.

First of all, Lance smelled unnaturally good. He always had, but this ship was small and space-faring- which meant that within a couple of vargas, the whole ship smelled like Lance's shampoo and cologne and aftershave and the deeper, more subtle fragrance of his skin… and it wasn't like 'cracking a window' was an option! Galra, as a species, had a more finely tuned sense of smell than humans, that was much more directly tied to what Kolivan had rather stiffly referred to as 'mating impulses'. Keith was considered rather dull-nosed by most of the Blades, but he still was much more attuned to odors than a pure human was. Lance smelled **too good**, and that was rapidly becoming an issue. The last thing Keith wanted to deal with was trying to explain his irritatingly frequent impulse to **sniff** his travelling companion!

Second of all, they no longer had their Paladin armor, but it wasn't exactly safe to be running around in a small ship with a risk of depressurization in jeans and t-shirt… so they were both wearing Blade's jumpsuits. Farm life had been very, very, verrry nice to Lance's physique and the snug material of the Blade jumpsuit was doing far too good a job of showcasing that. For the first time, he was starting to understand why Zethrid would get **that** look on her face whenever Ezor would suit up for a mission. He had a sinking feeling he had a similar look on his own face far too often.

Third of all, Keith was** not** used to spending so much time with someone who was so casually affectionate. Beyond the easy way Lance shoved shoulders, and ruffled hair, and, hugged, and otherwise just **touched** people, there was the flirting. Lance had always been a flirt, but Keith had known him long enough to know that his flirting was less about sexual interest than it was about **banter**. Lance liked wordplay, he liked the art of flirting, the humor and playfulness. It was part of how he interacted with pretty much everyone he wasn't intimidated by. Keith had seen him flirt with **both** Shiro **and **Curtis at their wedding, for God's sake. Most of the time, he didn't even seem to know he was doing it… and over the years, he'd veered away from the skeezy lines somewhat- which was really bad for Keith's state of mind, because he couldn't even hide behind cringing at the awfulness of his lines. At least once a varga he had to remind himself that Lance didn't realize he was flirting with him. He wasn't **actually** flirting with Keith. Not with sincerity. Not with **intent**. That was absolutely vital for Keith to remember.

Fourth of all, they each had their own bunks, but they were literal bunks. Two cots that folded away into the wall when not in use. The same wall. Keith was used to them, so he gave Lance the top bunk, because it had much more clearance- which was important for someone who was used to a human bed. Keith's mattress was all of three feet below Lance's. Close enough that he could hear every slow, steady breath when he fell asleep. And every small, distressed noise when the nightmares inevitably hit a varga or two later. He had no idea how to bring that up to Lance, but it worried him.

Between his nose and the suit; the accidental flirting and the growing concern; Keith felt like the Houston had turned into some kind of Keith-Kogane-specific pressure cooker… and it had only been **three quintants!** All of that explained why he'd found himself counting down the vargas until they would be touching down on Thayserix to refuel and check in with the locals. At least then he could… like… air out the ship or something.

"You wanna take us down?" he asked Lance as they approached the planet, "see how rusty you are at landing?"

"Rusty? Pffft- I'm not rusty… and it wouldn't matter if I was! You think I didn't notice that the docking and landing protocols are automated on this thing?"

"I can disable the assist if you think you don't need it," Keith said, unable to resist the urge to smile at Lance. His instincts had been right, or it least it seemed that way so far. Ever since they'd left Earth, Lance had been more upbeat, more engaged. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief that Keith hadn't seen in them in years.

"Is there, like, a halfway point we can set it to?" Lance asked after a few ticks, revealing a depth of maturity that far outpaced what he had even in those last days on the Atlas before they had confronted Haggar. "Just in case I am rustier than I thought?"

"You mean, something that kicks in if you go outside specific parameters? Yeah, I can do that." Turning back to the controls, Keith flipped a few switches and messed with a couple of dials. "There you go! It's all you unless you are in some kind of dangerous approach."

It wasn't the smoothest landing he'd ever had, but Lance had been capable and determined. After a few initial wobbles, he'd gotten a feel for the controls and then the descent was like silk until the last few ticks. Even that had been more awkward than bad. A lurch and a hitch and then a soft drop and they were on the ground.

Lance had done that weird rooster crow howl thing he'd heard so many times over the comms in the Lions and Keith couldn't help the huge, indulgent smile that bloomed on his face. There he was. **That** was the competitive, enthusiastic, brave, thrill seeker he'd fallen in love with.

Lance turned to him, eyes sparkling almost as bright as the smile that graced his handsome face, "told'ya I wasn't rusty!"

"Not bad," he conceded, "how long has it been since you landed something from orbit?"

"Probably not as long as you think." Lance laughed, rising out of his seat and stretching. He grabbed onto the crossbar of the storage access hatch above them and leaned forward, hanging his weight on his arms. The motion curved his torso back in a graceful line that showcased… just… **everything** and Keith heard a few pops before Lance let out a low, soft sigh. Three quintants. It had been **three quintants** and Keith was pretty sure he had made the biggest mistake of his life. "Maybe a year?"

"Huh?" he blinked at Lance, trying to make sense of what he'd just said. What about a year? Jesus- had he always been so flexible?

"There was an event on the Atlas," Lance was saying, and Keith was trying very hard to listen, and not just watch those lips move. "They were orbiting, and Veronica convinced me to go with her. Then she got completely shit faced and I had to fly us home. She and Rivazi had a fight, so… glug glug, I guess - seriously, save me from all the drama of my sister's sex life."

"Oh… okay. Umm… a year's not so bad."

"This ship is nicer than the old shuttle we had access to. Man, that thing was sooo **clunky!**" He cocked his head toward Keith and grinned, "so, do we change out of these scuba suits in here or after we get wherever we are going? Because… I'm not sure the girls of Thayserix are prepared for all this eye candy..."

"Here," Keith said, a little too forcefully. Eye candy. The 'girls' of Thayserix were definitely not prepared. **He** hadn't been prepared and he'd seen nothing but Lance in that suit for three damn quintants. Three quintants. That meant… at least ten more on the ship before they got to Daibazaal. He coughed, because it was the only thing he could think of that would prevent the actual whimper he'd felt building in the back of his throat, "you can change here. I'm not sure how busy things will be once we head out."

"Sure thing. I'll be right back and then you can change." Righting himself, he rolled his shoulders and headed to the back of the ship. After a moment, Keith heard him call out. "How long are we staying here, anyway?"

"Ummm… Thayserix is primarily a hospitality planet now, and I wasn't sure how stressed out we'd be when we got here, so I planned on staying for a couple of quintants." Laughter drifted out of the room, but Lance didn't say anything. Keith busied himself with running through the various checks and system shutdowns that needed to be done before the Houston could be refueled, and tried not to think too much about the fact that Lance was getting naked in close proximity to a bed at this precise moment.

"You really thought we'd be at each other's throats by now, didn't you?"

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin, he'd been so focused on not thinking about Lance that he hadn't even heard him approach. Whatever. At least now he wasn't going to be wearing the Blade jumpsuit. He'd have changed into something comfortable and normal like jeans and a t-shirt. Something Keith was used to seeing him in and could handle. "I thought that this is a small ship and you haven't been off planet for any length of time in a few years and…"

Oh.

Oh no.

**Not** jeans and a t-shirt.

Not even close.

Damn.

Black slacks encased Lance's long legs- a little snug over the thighs and sitting low on those narrow hips, like he'd bulked up a bit since he'd bought them. Instead of a t-shirt, he was wearing a pale grey button down, the top couple of buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up a little and then pushed up to his elbows which showcased a small assortment of colorful braided bracelets on his wrist. He'd topped that with a darker grey vest, hanging open. Something about the shades of grey made his coppery skin look warm and inviting and by some magic Keith didn't understand, those blue eyes of his looked even **bluer** and up until this exact moment Keith would have claimed that was impossible. He had no idea what he'd been saying so he just shrugged, like the rest of his comment was obvious.

"Awww," Lance cooed, batting his eyelashes playfully and Keith just plain forgot how to breath. "You planned a spa retreat for lil'ol me? Keith! You're spoiling me! Now I gotta figure out some way to pay you back!"

"Whatever… I should… change," he muttered, standing and pushing past Lance to head to the sleeping quarters. He doesn't know he's flirting, Keith reminded himself. He doesn't know he's flirting. Hedoesn'tknowhe'sflirting. Hedoesn'tknowhe'sflirting. It doesn't **mean** anything! Running through the mental list of all the reasons that he had come up with this (stupid, self-destructive, masochistic) plan of his he peeled out of his Blade jumpsuit and changed into a pair of black jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Basic, NORMAL clothes. Shoving his feet into his boots, he stuffed the last few things of his into his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. Lance's bag was resting against the airlock door. "Ready?"

"Yep!" There was a hiss as the airlock disengaged, the inner doors opening and then closing again behind them. Then a soft whine and a whoosh as the exterior doors opened, bathing them in blessedly plant-scented fresh air. "Ummm… Keith..." Lance turned to look at him, his expression stunned, "what?"

There was a crowd of Thayseri people cheering and setting off noise makers that sent little glittering sparks into the air as they exited the ship. He was **not **expecting this kind of reception! He'd stopped on this planet on his way **to** Earth and he'd been greeted by a single government representative and a driver. "I don't know! Maybe it's because of you?!"

"Why would I trigger this kind of reception?" Lance whispered, as he smiled and waved like a politician. "I'm a nobody! People don't even remember who I am!"

"One- they absolutely **do**, and two- I don't know! I just know that when I was here like three movements ago nobody cared!"

Thayseri were a humanoid species with warm yellow skin and curly blue hair that grew out like a mohawk and was usually decorated with little gemstones. Generally, they stood at about four feet tall and tended to be quite rotund and jolly looking. The planet itself was colorful as well, with cotton-candy pink grass and palm-tree like plants that seemed to be topped with red and purple and blue pompoms instead of leaves. The whole place reminded Keith of books his father would read to him when he was really small. He actually loved it here… but usually it was quiet and calm. He had no idea what to make of the sudden fanfare.

"Welcome! Welcome!" One Thayseri broke free of the crowd, rushing forward on his short legs, his face beaming with what could only be described as joy. "Former Paladins of Voltron! Representatives of the Blade of Marmora and the Earth Alliance! Carrier of Princess Allura's Legacy! Welcome to Thayserix and Congratulations!"

"Uhhh… ow!" Lance's elbow connected with his ribs with more force than was really needed and he fought the impulse to glare.

"Thank-you!" gushed Lance, despite the fact that he had no more idea of what was going on than Keith did. "This is all… so… festive! We are thrilled to be here. Just… thrilled!"

"It is such an honor to host you both," the man said, clasping Keith's hand in an enthusiastic handshake, "an honor to be a part of such an important event!"

"Uhmmm… Good… we're… uh… happy to give you the… uh… opportunity." He wasn't as good at this stuff as Lance, and he still had **no idea** what was going on!

The jolly man shifted his attention to Lance, grasping his hand in another firm handshake. "When we read your missive we were just so…"

"Honored?" Keith guessed.

"Yes! Yes, very honored. So honored. Always. Of course… but surprised! The accommodations you requested? So… modest. It wouldn't do! It just wouldn't do, at all. You understand, of course. It is a matter of pride! It couldn't stand!"

"No, of course," Lance nodded along, "we defer to your expertise, of course. I'm sure Keith… simply didn't want to be… a burden on you."

"A burden!? **Impossible!** On such an auspicious journey? Never!"

"Well, we are very glad to hear that we aren't causing any hardship." How was Lance **doing** this?! He sounded like he completely understood everything that was happening- even though it didn't make any sense at all! "But really, I'm sure the accommodations that Keith requested are perfectly adequate, ummm… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name…"

"My name? **Mine!?** Oh my Seri! A Paladin of Voltron wants to know **my** name! I am so honored… just so honored. It's Gu'klick. Gu'klick Y'hilky… but Gu'klick is fine, absolutely fine. Oh, my Seri! I am delaying you! My apologies! My deepest regrets! Please! Please! This way…" he shuffled backwards, half bowing as he swept his arm out to direct them to what looked to be some kind of hovering boat-thing?

"Gu'klick," Lance said with a smile grabbing Keith by the wrist and tugging him along as Lance followed the Thayseri. "I'm Lance, and this is Keith. We are so pleased to meet you. Your planet is lovely. Just lovely… and what a warm welcome!"

"Yeah," Keith managed, catching up to Lance, "pleased to meet you… uh… Gu'klick."

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you!" Gu'klick gushed, opening a door on the side of the odd transport to create a narrow ramp. Lance didn't miss a beat before bounding up the ramp and dropping his bag onto the floor of the vehicle. Keith followed a little more slowly. The interior was a gleaming red metal with a wide, low bench adorned with two deep blue pillows. He set his duffel beside Lance's bag and sat on one of the pillows. As Lance sat beside him, Gu'klick flashed an even bigger smile and clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! Now, we have relocated you to the Keriflimo Resort. Beautiful resort. Luxurious. Quiet. Private. Something befitting this visit. You will have the Elgari Suites, of course. I do hope they meet your approval."

"I'm sure they will be everything we could ever hope," Lance assured him, nudging Keith's knee with his own.

"Yes. Exactly." Keith nodded.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! I will send you on your way now. Please," he pressed a little box into Keith's hand, "do not hesitate to contact me if you are in need of **anything**. I am your personal attendant for the duration of your stay. It is my honor, my deepest, deepest honor to ensure you have the most wondrous stay!"

"Contact you?" Keith asked, turning the plain, unmarked little box over in his hand looking for a button or something.

"Yes! Of course! You've never stayed at the Keriflimo Resort! This is a… I believe 'comm' is the word you use, yes? Simply say my name and I will be alerted. Very easy to use. Very discreet," he assured him. "Otherwise, you will be granted complete privacy within the suites."

"Thank-you, Gu'klick," Keith said, because he wasn't as good at this stuff as Lance, but he wasn't completely useless. He could be polite, at least. "I'm sure that everything will be fine, but we'll keep that in mind."

"No, please! Thank **you** for this honor!" Gu'klick did another one of those little half-bows and tapped the side of the vehicle. The ramp retracted and the door slid closed. A soft bell chimed and shimmering walls that reminded him of the particle barriers they Lions had rose around them and enclosed the hovering transport. All the noise and bustle vanished immediately. They could see everything that was going on around them, but they seemed to be in some kind of bubble of silence.

"Keith- **What **is going on?" Lance breathed, still smiling, waving at the crowd that had greeted their ship.

"I don't **know**!" He insisted, exasperated, "I have no idea. I've been here before- a few times- they have **never** reacted like this! It's gotta be because you are here!"

"But that doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't know what to tell you! Maybe it's because of what they were saying about Allura's Legacy or whatever?"

"A couple of blue marks on my face doesn't warrant **that**… oh my god.."

"Wha- holy crap!"

The streets were **packed** with cheering Thayseri. Dozens of yellow-skinned, blue-haired people crowded behind glittering energy barriers. More of those sparkling noise makers were set off, although they couldn't hear them, or the cheering crowd. People held signs written in an alphabet that Keith didn't recognize and waved flags and banners. Their transport floated down the roads and a wave of those half-bows followed along with them, each and every Thayseri bending slightly and sweeping their arms in the direction the vehicle was travelling as they passed and then standing up to continue cheering once they had moved beyond them. It was surreal and more than a little overwhelming.

"It's like we are a parade," still waving and smiling, Lance sounded more awed than confused or pissed, "like, just us. I feel like this is the most disappointing parade ever… but we really seem to be a parade or something."

"This whole thing is soooooo weird," Keith muttered, also waving. "It's like… oh, God, Lance- it's like a royal procession! This is **completely** because of the whole Allura thing! They are treating you like royalty! Like they think she named you Prince or something. They must think this is some kind of diplomatic trip- some big symbolic peace thing between New Altea and Daibazaal!"

"Wow- no pressure or anything! Geez!" They exchanged a slightly panicked look, "when we get to the resort, I wanna see that message you sent- and then we are getting in touch with Kolivan ASAP! The last thing we need is to cause some kind of intergalactic incident because we don't know the protocols for this!"

By the time their little floating vehicle came to a halt and the glittering dome blinked out of sight, Keith understood why royalty all seemed to wave the same way- his arm was **killing** him and he hadn't even been waving that long! It had been **maybe** half a varga since they'd left the Houston.

The low whistle Lance let out brought him back to reality and he took in his surroundings for the first time. The vehicle had stopped in front of a… building, he guessed, although it didn't look like a building. It looked like a glass tree. A massive, pale purple glass tree that was completely covered in silvery vines dotted with little blue crystalline flowers… but a tree, all the same. An ornate filigree door was inset in the wall and he could hear birdsong and splashing water, "wow."

"Luxurious. Quiet. Private." Lance echoed the words of Gu'klick, "this looks like something out of a fairy tale!"

"Man, I think this is my favorite planet to visit…" Keith triggered the door and waited for the little ramp to slide into place before grabbing his bag and climbing down. Out of habit, he held his hand out for Lance to grab for balance as he followed behind him. "I mean, aside from all the weirdness this time around…"

"The 'pomp and circumstance'?" chuckled Lance, pushing a hand through his brown hair, "I dunno- that was kind of fun. Or at least, it would have been fun if we knew what was going on."

"I do not understand how you can enjoy that stuff…"

"Really?! You can't understand why I would enjoy people being overjoyed to see me? I'm not exactly a **shy** person, Keith," he laughed, his longer stride moving him past Keith on the path, despite the leisurely pace of his steps. "I mean, I wouldn't want it to be like that every day, but every once in a while? Sure. I like attention. This isn't news."

He was right- it wasn't news. But it also didn't fit with the way that Lance had been living his life for the last few years. A quiet life on the family farm was a completely valid way to live. It just didn't make sense for **Lance**. Not permanently. Lance's family had always functioned like a kite string- they kept him connected but let him soar. Without them he crashed. Since Allura's loss, and since the Lion's left, it hadn't been like that. It had been three quintants, and already Lance seemed lighter, more engaged. If, after this trip, Lance headed back to the farm, Keith would keep his mouth shut. He wasn't trying to make decisions for Lance- just hoping to remind him of how much he'd enjoyed the wider world. It was far too easy to let grief build walls around you.

"Hmmm… they didn't give us keys… I guess we should just… knock." The smile that Lance shot him was quite possibly the sexiest expression he'd ever seen. It was… uhh… potent. Definitely potent. He stopped in his tracks as Lance rapped twice on the door. Memories of finding Blue flooded him in a rush. He'd said the same thing then and it had led to** everything** changing.

Lance was brave. He took risks. That was something they shared, but it was different in Lance. For a long time, Keith took risks because he didn't see himself as having much value. That had changed- in a large part because of the handsome man that stood at the door- and he'd found his place and was reminded of his own worth. For Lance, though, it was more of a matter of trust in the idea of life working out than anything else. Some would call it naivety or the result of not really comprehending the risk.

Keith knew better. It was faith. Faith in the innate goodness of the universe. Faith in the capabilities of the people around him to handle any problem that came along. Faith in himself being able to adapt and thrive no matter the hardship. Faith that the risk was worth the payoff. Faith that had taken a hard hit when the woman he loved chose to sacrifice herself; when Allura had made the decision that her life was an acceptable price to pay to restore life and existence to infinite realities.

The door swung open and Lance shook his head, his smile softening, "look at that- it worked! Keith? What's with the face?"

"Just… remembering the first time I heard you say that about alien stuff," he answered.

"Ahhh, the good old days, huh?" Lance walked through the door and Keith followed. The door opened into a foyer. One side of the exterior wall was lined with hooks for outerwear and there was a delicate table against the far wall, a large mirror hanging above it. The floor was a glossy black so gleaming and pure it almost looked like a void. The walls were pale and warm- kind of a honey-ish wood color, maybe? Design wasn't exactly something he was into. It was strangely homey, though and he could already feel himself relax a bit.

High on the walls, sunlight filtered into the room, painting little glowing purple shapes on the softly colored walls. "Pretty," murmured Lance, toeing off his sneakers and kicking them out of the way of the door. Keith followed suit, and then literally followed Lance down the hall that led away from the foyer. To their left was a quiet, dim room that seemed to have an entertainment system on the far wall. Instead of furniture, the seating was inset into the floor like it had been on the Castle of Lions, but this was all soft, organic curves and deep, plush cushions. "I wonder what kind of movies are popular here?"

"They have stuff from all over. Even some Earth movies. Old ones, but from Earth. I watched a couple the last time I passed through."

"Sweet! Oh man- look at that kitchen! My mother would swoon!" Lance came to a stop in the arched doorway of a kitchen that looked like something out of a very beautiful restaurant. Large windows above deep, wide double sinks overlooked a bright and colorful garden. The walls were lined with fully stocked shelves containing every kind of dish he could imagine and plenty more he didn't recognize at all. There were three different kinds of stoves- including one that seemed to just be a bed of blue lava with a rack of some kind above it. "Check out this fridge!" Lance pulled open a door to reveal a walk-in refrigerated room containing more food that Keith would have thought possible. "Oh, hey! These are those weird ice pop things from Clear Day. You want one?"

"Maybe later," Keith answered, "right now I just want to message Kolivan, and get some fresh air."

"Ohhh, yeah… I like your plan better. We can explore more after we unwind." He shut the fridge and they left the kitchen. The hall emptied into a huge sitting room; three more of those inset couches were placed roughly facing each other. There was a wet bar off to one side, tucked into the corner beside a shelf filled with reading material- dozens of scrolls, holodisks, projector crystals, books, magazines, and data pads to choose from. Pretty flowering vines climbed the walls and natural light streamed in from the-oh. "Holy quiznak! I never want to leave," whispered Lance.

What Keith had expected to be the far wall was, in fact, an ornate filigree fence. The room was completely open to the outdoors. A babbling fountain sat just on the other side of the fence and fed into a deep, open pool of sparkling water. The smooth stone that shaped it was a pale, glowing pink and at the far end, it dipped down, forming a kind of spout for the water to spill over into a pretty little stream that coiled through the garden. It was surrounded by more of that soft pink grass and ringed with those pompom trees. Other plants dotted the grounds, often near hanging, nest-like constructs filled with pillows, or low, wide swings and benches, creating quiet little spots perfect for curling up to read. Beautiful and private and serene. It was like a little slice of fairy tale heaven.

"Wow! That's… amazing." Keith was already deciding what book he wanted to read.

"Yeah, I'm going swimming," Lance said suddenly. "You message Kolivan then come join me."

"I don't know if I want to go swi-"

"Yeah, yeah- I see those hammock-y things. I know you are itching to go read. Did you pack trunks?"

"Yeah?" How did Lance know he wanted to go curl up and read? When had he **ever** done that around Lance?

"Okay, then change into them. I feel rude swimming alone, but I won't if you are in your suit."

"That makes no sense, Lance."

"Don't care, it's the truth." He shrugged, "I think it's because you **could** swim if you wanted- whatever. Message Kolivan and meet me out there. Logic would dictate that there is a bathroom near the wat- Ah-ha! Found it… and oh my God, the tub is almost as big as the pool!"

Keith chuckled and pulled out his phone, taking his time to make sure his message to Kolivan was as thorough as possible and including his communications with Thayserix as attachments.

"Augh! Okay!" Lance yelled, "I'm fine! This is fine… but the thing across from the sink is a bidet! Fair warning!"

* * *

Those little nest things were every bit as comfortable as they looked. They even had an interface built in to them he recognized from previous visits to the planet that allowed him to order up drinks and snacks- which were delivered to him on little floating trays. He'd been slowly swaying back and forth, nestled deep in fluffy pillows, soaking up the sunlight with one leg hooked over the edge of the nest and sipping on icy cold Kethran Ale for two vargas or so. It was nice. It'd be nicer if he could focus.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?" He didn't look up, because if he looked up, he'd get thoroughly distracted by Lance. He could tell, just from the sound of the water and the tone of voice, that Lance had his arms looped over the edge of the pool and crossed, his chin resting on the x of his wrists. He knew that his brown hair was slicked back from his face and curling adorably from the water. He knew that the sparkling water was making the blue of his eyes practically glow, and that the sun and water combined to make his skin look absolutely edible. He knew all this because it had taken almost a varga for him to learn **not** to look.

"Any word from Kolivan?"

"No. I'll tell you when he replies, Lance. Relax."

"What are you drinking?"

"Kethran Ale," he answered, tapping the screen to bring up the next page of his book.

"Sooo- beer?"

"Pretty much, yeah. It's… got a kind of coffee flavor to it. But, not bitter… more tart. I don't know how to describe it. I like it. Packs a punch though, so I don't drink it often.

"Oh… cool." There was a splash and the sounds of water sloshing over the stone edges. Lance probably did that amazing thing where he kind of curled backwards in something that looked like a backflip to move away from the edge of the pool… because that's what he'd done every time Keith had made the mistake of looking at him. Lance + water was **bad** for his self control.

The sun vanished and water dripped on his leg. His eyes flew up before his brain could engage to stop them. Lance was standing beside him, looking like something from a beach calendar. Keith's mouth went dry and he reached for his drink, downing half of what was left in it.

"Can I try it?" Lance asked, pushing his hand through his hair and smiling at him.

"Huh?"

"The beer, Keith. Can I try the beer?" He laughed, "I don't want to try out the hammock-thing! I'd ruin all the pillows!"

"Yeah," he nodded. Sure. He could try whatever he wanted.

"Awesome, thanks!" He took the bottle from Keith, and his fingers skimming along the edge of Keith's hand made something hot and primal curl deep in Keith's gut. Keith moved the data pad like he was going to start reading again, but his eyes never quite made it to the screen. Lance tipped his head back to sample the ale- because lucky, lucky Keith had finished most of it. The sun caught on a droplet of water as it dripped from his hair, making it glint and flash as it struck Lance's shoulder and slid down that sun-kissed skin, tracing a meandering path over his clavicle and- Blinking hard, Keith snapped his eyes back up to Lance's face just in time for him to finish his sip. "That's good! Strong though, woo." Shaking his head sent water drops flying from his hair and Keith squawked at the little splashes. "Order me up a couple?"

"I'll order you **one**," Keith countered.

"One's a start," Lance answered with a shrug. "How's the book?"

"It's good. I like it."

"I hate reading on data pads." Returning the bottle to the hovering tray beside Keith, Lance stretched, "I like the feel of the paper, you know?"

"I do, too, sometimes. But this one was just available on the pads."

"At least the data pads are waterproof," Lance said, "safer around the pool…"

He should have known. He really should have. He **would** have known if Lance hadn't distracted him by being… hot. Lance's face changed, his eyes crinkling at the edges, smile curling up into a mischievous smirk. "No!" Keith yelped. Too late. He knew it was too late. Lance was already moving, and before Keith could gain any traction on the pillows he was hoisted over Lance's broad shoulder and the cocky jerk slapped. his. ass. before **running** back to the pool- like he weighed nothing- and leaping into the water.

Warm, refreshing water encased him barely an instant after he thought to hold his breath and he felt Lance release him so they didn't get tangled together. He blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust and Lance came into focus a few feet away. Lance winked at him and blew him a freaking kiss before swimming off.

Oh no.

He was **not** getting away with that!

Keith gave chase.

Swimming was something that Keith enjoyed; but Lance **loved** the water and had grown up a stone's throw from the ocean. It was harder than he wanted to admit to catch up to his travel companion, and he'd had to surface for air far sooner than Lance had. Eventually though, Keith had managed to grab Lance by the ankle and yank him backwards in the water. That time, they'd both broken the surface almost simultaneously. A heated, prolonged splash fight ensued.

Keith had a blast- he was never able to grasp how Lance made being **so** irritated so much **fun,** but he did. It was fun to trash talk and threaten and get way too into winning when there weren't really any stakes, at all. No war. No rebuilding ravaged cultures. Just sun, and water, and pitting himself against someone he trusted not to turn a game into something dangerous, all tied together by Lance's laughter and goading and little shrieks when Keith managed a particularly impressive arc of water.

By the time they crawled out of the pool a few vargas later, Keith was exhausted and pruney. Somehow, Lance seemed to be just as energetic as he had been when they went outside in the first place.

"Hungry?" Lance asked cheerfully, "because I am **starving.** We should see if there is anything recognizable in that kitchen…"

"I can use the interface to order something," Keith pointed out, "the kitchen is basically just for people who find cooking relaxing. I have never prepared my own food a single time on this planet. Not once."

"Oooooh room service! Yes, please! You know what kind of stuff I like- I'm gonna go dry off and change."

Watching until Lance ducked into the bathroom, Keith let out a sigh. The fresh air had done him a world of good- he no longer felt like he was drowning in Lance's scent and completely ruled by hormones. The time in the pool had helped, too. That whole thing had been disconcerting and weird. He didn't **like** being hyper-aware of just how attractive Lance was. It was important to him that he be able to function like a sensible adult around him. Lance was his friend, and Keith knew **exactly **how Lance saw him, and had accepted it years ago. He just wanted his stupid Galra nose to get the damn memo so he could stop reacting like a freshman dealing with his first crush already.

Grumbling to himself, he plugged in orders for food- a couple of steaks (human food- yay!), roasted tubers from Arus, and a salad made up of plants from a variety of sources. Simple, tasty, reasonably familiar. Done. Wait- drinks. After a moment of debate, he added a couple of Kethran Ales to the order for each of them. Sure, they were kind of strong, but he'd seen Lance drink before and a couple of them with dinner should be fine. Then they could chill out and watch a movie or something and crash for the night. Hopefully, at some point during the evening Kolivan would get back to them with an explanation, and they'd be able to relax for the rest of the visit.

By the time the food arrived in little covered, hovering trays, Keith had also ducked into the bathroom to change and had managed to towel dry his hair enough that it wasn't dripping onto his shirt at least. "This smells awesome," he sighed, trying to decide whether to eat in the kitchen or the entertainment room.

"Wanna take the food out to the garden?" Lance suggested, "it's getting dark- we can watch the stars come out."

"Sure!" Honestly, the more time they spent outside, the better… and that garden really was something special. He wasn't sure **why** they'd been upgraded so dramatically, but he was going to take full advantage of it. He followed Lance through the little gate in the filigree fence to one of the benches.

"What did you order us anywa- oooh! **Steak**! Niiiice!" Lance grinned and shifted to one end of the bench.

"Thought you'd like that," he laughed, "and I got us a couple of beers, too. Nothing like steak and beer, right?"

"Well, I mean… wine is the obvious choice," Lance countered, "but beer's good, too. This place is amazing!"

"The entire planet could be a wasteland filled with crumbling hovels, and as long as **that** pool was something you had access to, you'd love it," Keith pointed out, setting the cover for his tray of food aside and grabbing his cutlery.

"Not fair! I'm not **that** much of a sucker for a good pool. I am also impressed by the massive bathtub, and that entertainment room is something else. I was poking around in there while you were changing- did you know it has like a planetarium ceiling? Very cool!"

"Find any movies you wanted to watch?"

"Yeah, actually. There's an Altean one I really like. I've seen it a couple of times at Coran's. It's not as… uhhh… artsy as most Altean media. It's… kind of a buddy cop comedy… I guess." He shrugged, "it's funny. I like it."

"Sure, I'm not picky… and if I hate it, I can always go read something."

"You'll like it," Lance nodded, sipping his beer, "oh- I threw your duffel into the bedroom before we came out- in case you are looking for it."

"Not sure why I'd be looking for it, but alright. Good to know, I guess- how's the steak?"

They fell into easy conversation, chatting about the food and sharing gossip about their mutual acquaintances. Keith got a kick out of Lance's stories about Veronica's very busy love life. Nadia Rivazi was a firecracker and most of the stories about their relationship involved arguments and reconciliations. Keith preferred the ones about Veronica and Acxa, though, because it was a side of the Galran woman who'd become practically family to him over the years that he didn't see much of, and because Lance had a knack for amping up the drama of their years-long relationship in a way that was hilarious.

As the sky grew dark and stars began to flicker in the sky, things got quieter. Sipping his beer, Keith talked about Blade missions and Kosmo and told the occasional story about Shiro, or his time living alone in the desert before they'd been part of Voltron. Conversation petered out a bit as they finished their food and started in on their second beers, their attention mostly focused on the night sky.

"Still messes with my head to look up and not recognize any of the constellations," Lance mused, "it's easier in a ship, I think. Something about being on the surface of a planet and seeing unfamiliar stars is just weird."

"Mmmhmmm… I know a few of these, though." Lifting his arm, he pointed at a cluster of stars near the horizon, "those are the Caliprakic Warriors and that… the kind of swoopy shape there with the duller stars? That's the Oxynbim- it's a monster that eats warmth."

Lance leaned in close, resting his head on Keith's shoulder so he had the same line of sight, "how do you know that?"

"My first time here, I got a book on the myths related to the stars… I loved Greek and Roman mythology when I was a kid, and I thought it would be an easier way to learn the stars of this system."

"So, you know the stories behind them?" At Keith's nod, Lance's eyes lit up, "ok, you have to tell me! Tell me about the Oxy-bum thing…"

"OxynBIM," Keith laughed, "alright. So, long, long ago, this world was cold. Very cold. Most of the planet was iced over, there were frozen poles, like on Earth, but they extended really far… nowadays, there is almost nothing near the equator here, because it is so unstable, but back then, all those volcanoes meant warm, fertile lands. There's this chain of them that almost completely circle the planet, called the Calipsi. So, all these little islands near the Calipsi were like the only spots where people lived. At some point, I guess the volcanoes went kind of dormant, and the temperatures dropped. But there was also less smoke and stuff in the atmosphere, so for the first time, they could see those stars."

Somehow, they ended up stretching out on the bench, side by side as Keith spoke, "food got scarce- it was too cold for a lot of the plants that people relied on and they needed to hunt more. For a couple of generations, things were really hard, but the people got stronger, leaner… and eventually the leaders from a bunch of those islands got together and decided they had to do something about the Oxynbim, before it stole all the warmth that was left and even their hunting wouldn't be enough to keep them fed. So, they prayed to their gods for guidance and the strongest, fiercest of their warriors were selected to go into the stars to fight to protect them all."

"Like their version of Voltron," Lance mused, "protecting them from space… I like that they came together to find a solution instead of fighting over shrinking resources…"

"Yeah, humans would have waged war on each other first, but not the Thayseri." Sipping his beer, he smiled, "right, so these chosen protectors, they were called the Caliprakic Warriors and they went on this quest and climbed to the peak of the highest volcano- the one that everyone was sure touched the stars- so they could fight the Oxynbim and bring warmth back to their families and villages and it could be like the elders said it used to be. They were young- they'd never been warm like that. They just had faith in what the elders told them things used to be like… and they were willing to die for the people they loved to have better lives. That's a special kind of bravery. So, like, the stories kind of end with them going off on this quest, but, supposedly, there was a huge eruption of the volcano they climbed, and everything warmed up again. So, they say the gods turned them into stars and they keep the Oxynbim at bay, even now."

"So, that's supposed to be them? The actual warriors that climbed a volcano to fight stars?" His voice was soft, "man, I love the stories ancient people came up with to explain things they didn't understand."

"That's supposed to be them," Keith answered. He was lying unnaturally still, because he was pretty sure that Lance hadn't noticed that in his shifting and talking he'd ended up curling into Keith's side. But Keith had definitely noticed how perfectly they fit together; how warm Lance was, even through the layers of their clothing; how incredibly easy it would be for him to unfold his arm from behind his head and let it fall around Lance's shoulders. It was hard to think about anything else, actually. "Given everything we've seen out there…"

"Yeah- it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've encountered if they **were** those stars. Maybe they are keeping Allura company."

"Maybe- she'd certainly respect their bravery."

"And their hope," Lance said quietly, "she always valued hope."

They went quiet and just watched the sky for a few doboshes. Mentioning Allura would often end a conversation. It wasn't pain anymore, not really. Lance hadn't sounded sad, or heartbroken when he talked about her, just fond and kind of wistful. Still, while her loss wasn't as sharp as it had been when it was new, it was still big enough to swallow the conversation and replace it with a flood of memories.

"Hope takes a lot of courage," Lance said after a while, still resting his head on Keith's shoulder. Keith fought to remind himself not to read into it. Lance was talking about his dead girlfriend, for God's sake! "People don't think about it much, but it takes a lot of guts to look at all the awful stuff life can throw at you and **choose** to think 'this isn't forever, I can change this'. Those Calico-"

"Caliprakic…"

"Those Caliprakic Warriors had that. So did Allura."

"You have it, too," Keith pointed out, "you and Allura had that in common. Maybe that's what Blue valued in a paladin?"

"Maybe. I guess we'll never know now."

"It would fit… but yeah. Unless Coran knows, that bit of information is lost to us."

"I miss the Lions sometimes," Lance sighed, "not the battles and stuff, just… that feeling, you know? That like… purr in the back of your mind. The one that reminded you that you weren't ever **really** alone? I miss it."

"Me, too… and when we would all connect to form Voltron? I miss that a lot."

"I remember being so worried about how that would go once Allura and I started dating. Like, I was scared that the way things changed between us would mess up the Voltron mindlink somehow."

"It felt different, but not in a bad way. Just… warmer, maybe?"

"I like that. We were all sorely lacking in warmth back then." The smile on Lance's face was soft, but it reached his eyes. He was still curled into him, head resting on his shoulder. So close, and warm, and he smelled so good. But, he didn't mean anything by it, and Keith felt like such an asshole for enjoying the closeness and contact so much. "You know any other myths?"

He did, and he told them all to Lance- lying side by side on the bench, staring up at the alien stars until they were both yawning every couple of doboshes. It was probably totally safe to sleep outside, but he doubted it would be all that comfortable, so the next time Lance yawned like a sleepy kitten, he spoke up. "Okay- time for us to crash. We can do more stargazing tomorrow night."

"I wonder if it is safe to sleep outside here?" Lance mused drowsily as he sat up, surprising Keith with how perfectly he had echoed his own thoughts, "those hammock things look pretty damn cozy right now…"

"I don't see why it would be any more dangerous than the last few vargas have been… but there is no way I'm sleeping rough at a high end resort!"

"Mmm… good point. Maybe I'll grab a nap in one sometime tomorrow." He stretched again and Keith moved to pack up their dishes, covering the floating trays and hitting the little button that sent them whirring back to wherever the kitchens were located. After all these years, he'd gotten pretty adept at finding ways to occupy himself so he didn't ogle his friend too much, or make an idiot of himself (by getting caught ogling his friend).

"You and naps," Keith chuckled, because Lance had always been a very vocal fan of napping. Back on the Castle of Lions it was common to find him curled up somewhere, taking advantage of their limited downtime to grab a short nap. They'd all teased him a bit, but it never got too harsh. Tactically, it made sense to try to be as well rested as possible, since they were never really 'off-duty', but Lance hadn't been making a tactical decision. He just enjoyed naps.

"Listen, beauty sleep is important," Lance countered, giving Keith a playful hip-check as they headed back inside, "and it works!" He twisted, placing himself directly in Keith's path, and it was only Keith's continued training with the Blades that kept his reflexes sharp enough to avoid slamming into Lance. Still, he ended up standing close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating from that very solid chest. His mouth went dry, eyes flicking up to meet Lance's gaze reflexively. Lance smirked, and heat coiled deep in Keith's gut again. "Case in point," he quipped, framing his face with his hands, "don't knock the naps!"

And, just like that, he was moving again, completely oblivious to the havoc he wreaked without even trying. Keith pulled himself together (something else he'd gotten good at thanks to long practice) and followed behind him. "Hey- where did you say you tossed my duffel? Like… which door?"

"There's only the one door," Lance laughed, "end of the hall."

That was weird. A luxury resort like this was the last spot he'd expect to house them in a suite with a single bedroom- especially since he'd initially booked two rooms for them. Not that he really minded. It wouldn't be that different from sleeping in the bunks on the Houston- just horizontal distance instead of vertical. He pushed open the door, and froze. He'd been expecting to see two double beds. Not… this.

Like the other rooms, this one didn't have furniture in the way that Earth did. Keith wasn't sure why so many alien species liked to sink their furniture into the floor, but it was what it was. This room wasn't overly large, but there was roughly a three foot border of solid floor running along the walls. Past that point though? It was just one massive bed. **One** very inviting, absolutely decadent looking, bed. There was a fireplace-like thing that served as a kind of headboard, but that was the only indication of any type of proper positioning of the round sleeping surface.

He was pretty sure the neatly folded blankets along the far edge were satin and fur… and that pale yellow one looked like Grekagan angora. He didn't even want to **think** about what all the pretty little bottles on the tray beside the blankets contained! "Lance?" he called back through the door, "have you actually checked this room out?" Because he couldn't possibly have seen this, right? Because if Lance had seen this… honeymoon grotto-looking situation, he would have **said** something, right? Cracked a joke. Made some kind of flirty comment he didn't mean but that still made Keith's hormones surge and his breathing hitch and his stomach drop. Grabbed that little communicator cube and summoned…. Ummm… Gloopick? No. Galapit? No- whatever that guy's name was! Lance would have **done** something or **said** something if he had seen... Just… all of this. Right? Just… Keith had seen actual brothels that didn't look this… um… sensual and inviting.

"Yeah, of course I did," Lance answered, somehow from directly behind him- how had he gotten so close without Keith noticing? "Did you see those awesome curtain things? That whole wall is glass, but instead of putting the curtains on the windows… just look!" He pushed past Keith, half-jogging over to the far end of the room and pulling a shimmering gauzey fabric out of the column that housed the fireplace, dragging it behind him as he looped the bed. Once the fabric touched the opposite side of the headboard-fireplace-thing it… what was the opposite of flashed? Because that's what it did, it switched from shimmery and light to opaque and dark in an instant. "How cool is that?! Right?"

Lance looked like a little kid. His face was positively lit up with happiness, any trace of his earlier sleepiness completely gone. It was impossible to see that and not smile, even if Keith was still more than a little wigged out by the whole 'one giant bed' thing. Still… "The curtains weren't really my focus, Lance," he said.

"I know, Keith, I know... but they **should** be! I mean, look!" He pulled the curtain back and the entire thing shifted to gauzey and shimmering in an instant. Then he pushed it until it touched the column again and it blinked into darkness. Light. Dark. Light. Dark. "This is seriously cool! Ohhh… is it the one bed thing? Because if it is, you are looking at this all wrong! This curtain situation? It's not a **bed** anymore, it's a **tent.**"

"A tent?" He wasn't sure how that changed anything.

"Yeah. A tent. Like camping. The mattress is just… like imagine the tent has a comfy floor. I mean, this thing is huge. I've been in **rooms** smaller than this mattress! The entire sleeping quarters of the Houston would fit in here easy peasy lemon squeezey."

"I guess…"

"Keith, we've slept within arm's reach since we left Earth. I already know you snore. Chill."

"I do not snore!"

"No… you're right… it's more like you growl in your sleep. It's a Galra thing. Acxa does it, too."

"She does? Wait- how do you know that?"

Lance gave him a dry look, "you're kidding right? Veronica, that's how. She used to bitch about it all the time. Now she's gotten used to it or something, I guess. Either way, this isn't any different than the rest of the trip, really."

"Yeah… fine… sure. Lemme just go get changed and stuff." He wasn't **wrong**, and if Keith pressed the issue it would be weird and suspicious, so he let it drop.

By the time he returned, Lance had already settled himself on the mattress. He'd even taken the time to set out a couple of pillows and blankets for Keith. The two of them were about five feet apart, Lance lying on his side and fiddling with his phone. "Hey," he said, flashing Keith a smile. "I figured you weren't much of a 'wrap up in furs' kind of guy because you keep your ship like an ice box and use, like, **one** sheet. So, I grabbed you a couple of the lighter blankets. Good?"

He sat, running his hand over the blanket Lance chose, "holy crap! This thing is so soft! I wanna steal it."

"You can't **steal** it, Keith!" Lance gasped, scandalized, "they know who we are! Geez- just ask where you can buy one. Gu'klick was falling all over himself to make us happy, he'd probably just give you one if he knew you liked it."

"Yeah… right. That's probably true." The mattress moved oddly beneath him as he shifted around, but once he was lying down with his head resting on the pillow it felt like he was floating on nothing.

"Comfy, right?" Lance hopped to his feet, holding his phone, and gingerly walked to the edge of the bed, wobbling back and forth like he was in a bouncy castle or something. Grinning like a kid (in a bouncy castle) again, he closed the gap in the curtain and the fabric went dark. Above them though, the ceiling glowed softly, a warm amber light moving gently through the ceiling like rippling water. "I love this place. I vote that every year, right after the reunion dinner we all come here for a couple of days. Like a Voltron retreat. We can all stay right here and it will be like a camp out. I bet Pidge has some awesome ghost stories. She seems like the type, doesn't she?"

"All of us? Camping out in this bed?" Keith chuckled, trying to imagine it. "Pidge would terrify Hunk- you know that, right?"

"That's okay, he can cuddle up to me. Wouldn't be the first time. Hunk and I are long time camping buddies." Using the light from his phone to see, Lance returned to his little nest of pillows and blankets, "and yeah, all of us. There's plenty of room. I think it would be nice. I know everyone is busy, but I don't know… we all went through big stuff together. We should be able to spend some time just… enjoying each other's company, you know? More than one dinner a year where we spend half an hour catching up and then the rest of the meal remembering Allura. That's important… she's important… but we were always more than JUST her… and for a while, she wasn't even a Paladin. Shiro, you, me, Hunk, and Pidge… we were a team, too. A family, really."

"Are you serious?" he asked softly, because Lance did this sometimes, he spun out little daydreams of things he'd like to do. Talked about plans they should make with the others. Little flights of fancy that he didn't really mean, but that kept his imagination engaged for a bit and made him smile. But if he was serious… if he was really thinking about making an annual trip into space, for more than just the anniversary dinner on New Altea… that was… wow.

"Yeah," he said after a few quiet doboshes, "yeah. I think I am. I think it would be great. For all of us. We should do it. Do you think the others would want to?"

"Lance," he said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice, because he wasn't sure Lance realised just how much his idea would mean to everyone. "I think… that if you asked everyone to come camping with you at a high end resort on Thayserix and they knew you meant it, they'd be putting in for the time off before you ended the call."

"Really?"

For the life of him, Keith couldn't figure out why Lance sounded so surprised at that. "Yes, really! Lance- you get that people have been worried about you, right? That they miss you?"

"I haven't **gone** anywhere, Keith. I'm just... home. They all know where to find me. I just… needed some time."

"I know… we all know that. I think we just didn't realize how much time you'd need. But, yeah, I think that if you are serious, they'd all be happy to come. Not so sure about all of us sharing one giant bed, though."

"Okay, first of all… we've already established that this is a tent- not a bed. And, second of all, I've shared a bed with all of them before so I don't know why they'd complain."

"When have you ever shared a bed with Shiro?" Keith laughed, because he knew that Lance had had sleepovers with Hunk and Pidge back on the Castle of Lions.

"The night of his bachelor party," Lance answered, voice smug. "We passed out on the same fold out couch. That damn arm of his is heavy! I felt like I had Thor's Hammer on my chest. Also, he kicks."

"Oh, I know! One time, on the way back to Earth in Black, he stomped Mom right in the center of her back. She was up and had her knife to his throat in like a flash. It was… pretty intense."

"Holy crap, Keith! Your mom almost killed Shiro?!"

"She didn't almost kill him, she's got better control than that," Keith scoffed. "She did kind of trigger a flashback, though… so Shiro decided to bunk with Pidge for a bit after that."

"That's why he was sleeping in Green? I was so curious about that, but I thought maybe Pidge was having nightmares or something so I didn't bring it up."

"Well, now you know," he smiled, still buzzing with relief and bubbling with happiness at the annual camp out idea. It was like he was getting to watch Lance remember himself on this trip. He just hoped and prayed that it stuck… because Lance was too special and precious to just… fade out the way he had been.

"We'll just have to make sure that when we are all getting settled in for the night, we point Shiro's feet away from everyone else," Lance mused after another couple of doboshes of comfortable silence.

Keith couldn't help it, that bubbling happiness was just too much. Lance's matter of fact observation just struck him exactly right and he dissolved into laughter. He couldn't catch a breath, laughing so hard he wheezed when he tried to drag some air back into his lungs, which sent Lance into a spiralling giggle that grew into true laughter. He had no idea how long they laughed together, but by the time it petered out in short staccato barks and aching ribs and little snuffles of mirth between gasps of air, he was truly exhausted. He could barely keep his eyes open, even as he wiped tears away from where they clung to his lashes and streaked down his cheeks.

"Good night, Keith," Lance said softly and Keith could hear the smile and the fondness in his voice as the light from his phone blinked out.

"Good night, Lance," he replied, and he was just too tired and too happy to school his own voice, to aim for something neutral and 'friend appropriate'. He couldn't be bothered to try. Somewhere along the way Lance had somehow decided that he wasn't as important to them as he really was. All their care and caution not to push too hard, not to crowd him, to give him the time and space he seemed to need had somehow sent the message that he wasn't missed, wasn't valued all that much. Keith wasn't going to be part of that miscommunication any longer. So, he just spoke sincerely, and in that moment it wasn't scary to think that Lance might hear how much he meant to Keith in his words. "Sweet dreams, Sharpshooter."

"Yeah… you too, Samurai."

The bed was really comfortable, and the blankets were soft and warm without overheating him. Keith could feel himself sinking into sleep almost immediately. He could hear Lance's breathing start to settle out, and for once, the scent of Lance's skin- because he was just close enough that Keith was catching that fragrance with every inhale- was soothing instead of frustrating. A comforting reminder that he wasn't alone, that Lance was close and safe as he drifted off.

"Keith?" Lance's voice was soft, barely more than a whisper.

"Unnh?"

"Do you wanna know why I said yes? When you asked me to come on this trip?"

Dragging himself back from the edge of sleep, Keith yawned and rubbed at his face, "sure… if you wanna tell me…"

"Because you asked." The words came slowly. "You never asked before. You'd say 'hey you should get back to space soon', or 'if you want to see Daibazaal, let me know', or something like that. That's what everyone does… they suggest." Several times, Keith thought he was done and opened his mouth to respond, only for Lance to speak again- soft and halting. There was something… fragile… in his voice that Keith was terrified to trample on, so he stayed quiet. "This time though, you asked. Even when I pointed it out… when I said it was a big ask… you said you knew it was, and you were asking anyway. You wanted me to come. Me, specifically. That's why I did… because I know I'm wanted here. That's why I came. I thought… you might want to know that."

"Oh," he said finally, once he was absolutely sure that Lance was done talking, "yeah… I wanted to know that. Thanks… for telling me all that… and you are. Wanted here, I mean. I'm… really glad you decided to come. Really glad."

He heard Lance give that little half laugh he did sometimes when he heard something he liked, but he didn't speak again, so Keith settled back down, ready to sleep whenever his brain decided to stop turning Lance's words over and over and over like they were some kind of secret code.

Finally though, he felt himself start to drift off, and as he hovered in that hazy place between sleeping and waking he heard the start of a soft rumbling in his chest. What Lance had called 'growling'. It wasn't though, the thought was wispy, barely coherent, triggering some half-forgotten memory of hearing it before… on the space whale… from Krolia. It was purring… he remembered her explaining it… Galra purr in their sleep when they are safe with the ones they love the most.

"Heh… growling…" Lance whispered, "so you're asleep. Okay… sometimes I don't get you at all, Keith. I'm right here. I'm. Right. Here. I'm not an idiot kid anymore… I know I'm not misreading this… and I'm right here and you… you're so goddamn skittish sometimes… but I'm… Acxa said…" He sighed, "I can't… put myself any further out there, Keith… I need you to see it… see me… meet me halfway. I'm. Right. Here."

At first, Keith thought it had been a dream. One of those weird dreams that happen when you aren't quite asleep that seem so solid and certain that you aren't sure what is real at first. But, slowly, it sank in. His eyes flew open, breath freezing in his lungs. That… couldn't be right. He couldn't possibly have really heard that. Right? Right!? Dragging in a shaky breath, he rolled onto his side, because he'd somehow ended up on his back. He could just barely see Lance in the low light, snuggled deep into his blankets, his back facing Keith. His brain struggled to recount the words that had drifted through his half sleep. He needed some way to confirm that had really happened. Something that wouldn't be too awful to back up from if he had dreamt it.

"Lance?" he breathed, watching for any sign that he was awake. Lance was still. Too still. Too quiet, too. It was almost like he was… holding his breath. Keith pulled in a deep breath of his own and steeled his nerve. He lifted his pillow, and scooted closer to Lance. Five feet became two and a half. He set his pillow back on the mattress and fixed his blankets. "Okay… If I really heard what I think I heard…" his voice shook, but he pushed through, "that's… uh… that's halfway. This is me… meeting you halfway, Lance."

"Shit," Lance said, voice soft, still facing away from Keith, "I thought you were asleep."

"I… pretty much was… I… didn't know if that was real…" He was trembling, he could feel the shake rattle his arms and legs. He wanted to reach out so badly. He was so terrified to do it, though. Because… if Lance rejected him… if he was regretting what he said… Keith knew he wouldn't survive that. Not really. "I… hope… yeah, I hope it was real…" And then he was the one holding his breath… but now, Lance was moving, rolling onto his back, and then up onto his side. When he stopped, there was less than an inch between them and the fragrance that was Lance filled his nose, soothed something in him even as it stirred up long banked, aching need.

His eyes had adjusted to the dim. It wasn't perfect, but he could see well enough to make out the blush that colored Lance's cheeks. "Hi," he said, smiling awkwardly.

"Hi," Keith answered, smiling back, "halfway."

"You know that was supposed to be a metaphor, right?" Lance grumbled.

He rolled his shoulder in a half shrug, "consider it a gesture then. I see you."

"You see me." His smile grew.

"Yeah," Keith whispered, finally lifting his shaking hand to touch him. He skimmed his fingertips along his temple, tucking that unruly brown hair back behind his ear. "You're right here. It was real."

Lance's eyes drifted shut at the soft touch, "Keith…"

"I'm right here," Keith whispered back, and he didn't remember moving, didn't remember Lance moving, but someone did… or maybe they both did… maybe they met in the middle again… because then... they were kissing. Soft. Shy. Tentative and chaste- but it flooded Keith with a surge of emotion that left him gasping.

"God," Lance sighed, pressing his forehead against Keith's, "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Me, too," he answered, "but Lance… you need to know… this isn't… it's not something casual for me. I can't… I'm not wired for that…"

"I know… Keith… I know. It's not… casual... for me, either."

"You know?" His brow furrowed, curious.

Lance chuckled, "well, I've known you a long time. Plus, you're not exactly a master of misdirection… I figured it out a while ago. I just… wasn't ready, and I wasn't willing to risk hurting you."

"But you are now? Ready, I mean." He wasn't absolutely certain that he wasn't still dreaming… because… this didn't feel like any reality he'd be lucky enough to experience.

"Yeah. I am. I'll probably freak out at some point, so… like… be prepared for that… and know it isn't about you, it's about me… moving on… but yeah. I'm ready to do this. You… God, Keith… I feel like we're tuning in in the middle of a romcom or something. Like- this looks like it is just the start… but it's not, not really. There's been this love story going on for ages, and we just… weren't paying attention or something."

"Love story," his smile grew so much it actually hurt his face. "We get a love story."

"Yeah, we do. We get a love story. A great one. Rivals, to friends, to lovers… it's a classic. Epic even."

"Still with the rivals thing?" He couldn't stop grinning, and Lance slipping his arm around his waist didn't do much to help his attempts to stop.

"Did you or did you not fly Red into the surface of a planet trying to beat me?" He shifted, closing the tiny distance between them and tucking himself up against Keith; slotting legs and knees and elbows and shoulders together effortlessly. Like they'd been specially formed to fit together perfectly. "Everyone acts like the rivalry was all in my head- and yeah, maybe I started it… but you never shied away from a chance to compete with me."

"Okay, okay… fair enough. In the beginning… I was just as competitive with you as you were with me." He rolled his eyes, because he couldn't believe they were talking about that at the moment.

"Finally! Thank-you!" He laughed, tucking his head into the curve of Keith's throat, "I like this better though."

"I do, too," he trailed his hand down Lance's back, trying to reassure himself that this was really happening. "We're really doing this?"

"Cuddling in a giant bed? Yup." Lance teased, "unless you were talking about something else…"

He glared, but there was no heat in it, "I meant this. Us. You and me… the… not casual… thing."

"Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Keith? Because that was… kind of… ambiguous."

He groaned, "Lannnnce, stop fishing. You know what I meant."

"Okay, okay… fine. Cards on the table. I get it. If it is what you want, then yeah… I want a relationship. Actually… scratch that first part. I want a relationship. If that's not what you want, that's going to hurt and suck… a lot… and I'll respect it, but what I want is a relationship. I want our love story. I want to be your boyfriend, maybe more someday if we work."

"Then you're my boyfriend," Keith answered, his heart feeling like it might actually burst from trying to contain everything he was feeling. "I want our love story, too."

"Most people start with dating," he whispered, tipping his face so Keith could lock eyes with him, "but we've never been most people… so that works. Kiss me again, boyfriend?"

Really, how could he say no to that? It was impossible. So, he caught Lance's lips with his own and held him close and took his time kissing his boyfriend properly. Everything still felt hazy and delicate, still carried the soft focus of dreams; but Lance was solid in his arms. His lips were warm and soft against his own. His mouth was wet and eager- for all its gentleness- coaxing a soft moan out of Keith and answering it with a sigh.

When they finally pulled back from the kiss, it was after several false starts that had turned into renewed kissing. They both knew, without discussing it, that they needed to take things slow for now, let their connection breathe and relax a little bit. It had been an incredibly busy day, and they'd been exhausted ages ago, and now that a major source of stress and worry had been dealt with, sleep was becoming more demanding and less ignorable by the tick. "Stay here," Keith mumbled drowsily, "right here… in my arms… don't move… so I know, when I wake up… I know I didn't dream this."

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away," Lance promised, pillowing his head on Keith's bicep with his hand tucked up under his tank top and pressed against Keith's back and anything else he said was lost to Keith as he fell asleep.

* * *

Hidden away from the early morning light by the dark curtains Keith slept later than he could ever remember sleeping before; and when he woke, it was a slow, gentle process. He'd rolled onto his back sometime during the night, and he'd either taken Lance with him, or Lance had crawled on top of him of his own volition- and honestly, he wasn't sure which option he liked better. Either way, he woke under the very cozy weight of Lance, whose head was resting right over Keith's heartbeat. Their legs tangled together; Lance's hands tucked snugly between his back and the mattress; his own fingers laced in soft brown hair and resting on a strong shoulder; it all added up to a level of comfort Keith couldn't remember ever feeling before.

He had just a few doboshes to remind himself that this was reality. Last night hadn't been some kind of dream- Lance was still right here, in his arms. He was in no rush to change that, either. He'd spent far too long thinking this was impossible, that Lance was so far beyond his reach to do anything but bask in those few quiet moments.

Like anything that involved Lance, the quiet moments were very short. Keith hadn't had nearly enough time to enjoy them before everything tilted and shifted and morphed into something completely different, but just as precious as Lance yawned so hugely he squeaked and blinked up at Keith like a kitten. "Mmmmm… morning," he smiled, scrunching his face animatedly and nuzzling into the hand that Keith still had resting in his hair. "You got all quiet. Woke me up. Don't know why Veronica was so bitchy, that growl thing is better than a white noise machine."

He laughed softly, happiness fizzing in his veins like a tiny tickle. "If you say so. I wouldn't know- never used a white noise machine."

"I can't sleep when it's too quiet," Lance explained, "need sound- hum of the engines, people talking in the next room, music, the ocean… anything really."

"I know," Keith answered, tracing his thumb over Lance's cheek. "You've always been like that- stealing Pidge's headphones, picking the room closest to the engine, napping in the common room… on Kosmo."

"Hey now, Kosmo is a great nap buddy," he chuckled, "my boyfriend has the best space wolf."

His boyfriend. Lance grinned at him and he felt a huge smile blossom on his face, big enough to scrunch his nose and crinkle his eyes and make his cheeks ache. "Okay, it's official, Thayserix is my favorite planet," Keith whispered. "Hands down."

Lance's smile didn't really change, but somehow, it transformed- it was just as big, just as playful… but soft now… and tender and sweet and fond and enchanted… and so many more things that just kept fuelling that bubbling, fizzing happiness that had been tickling under Keith's skin since the moment he'd woken. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"You," Keith breathed, "because of you… because… it's halfway."

Lance shifted his weight, bracing it on his elbows and almost crawling over Keith's chest to bump their noses together softly. "It's my favorite planet, too," he whispered, brushing their lips together softly, still smiling, "because of you… because… it's where you finally saw me."

"I always saw you, Lance."

"No, you didn't. Not really. You stopped looking- after Allura… and I get that. I do…"

"I saw you, Lance… I just didn't trust my eyes, okay?" He threaded his fingers through that soft hair again, tugging gently, so now he was the one brushing his lips against Lance's, "I saw you. I tried to look anywhere else, like you were the sun… sometimes it hurt to look... but I always saw you."

"The sun," he echoed, and Keith nodded and then Lance was kissing him again and he felt like he was going to burst. He tasted like sleep, and Keith didn't care, because Lance felt like every happy moment Keith had ever had happening all at once, and he smelled like home, and the little sigh he made as he settled his weight back over Keith sounded like heaven. "I hate being the responsible adult," Lance said after a few quiet doboshes, "but did Kolivan get back to you yet?"

"Mmm… I should check that, shouldn't I?" he replied, settling his hands on Lance's lower back, where his sleep shirt had ridden up to bare a thin strip of skin to Keith's touch.

"Zoom, look at you go," teased Lance.

"Well, you are lying on top of me…"

"That a complaint?"

His arms tightened reflexively, and he made a noise that definitely wasn't a growl… it just… sounded a lot like one. Lance laughed, dropping his head to press a little kiss to the column of Keith's throat. "Opposite of a complaint," he sighed, little shivers racing out from where Lance's lips were touching him.

"I need to be the one to move, don't I?" Lance whispered against his skin before sighing and rolling away from him. "Look at me, being the grown up here."

He was suddenly so cold. The contrast between Lance's warm weight and its absence was almost painful. Which was ridiculous. He knew it was ridiculous, but that didn't stop him from reaching out to grab him and pull him right back into his arms.

"Keith!" Lance squawked, already laughing, "you have to-"

He caught the rest of the words with his mouth, kissing Lance with all the hunger and longing that had built up within him over the years. He felt the instant when Lance got caught up in it, shifting from being kissed to kissing him back with equal fervor in the space between heartbeats, a little strangled noise escaping into the kiss. They coiled around each other, and Keith still couldn't quite believe that this was really happening. Lance's hands found their way into his hair and clenched in the soft strands, holding him to the kiss. His own went lower, one arm locking around Lance's waist and the other grabbing one strong thigh and pulling it up, over his own hip so they slotted together perfectly. They both groaned at the change in pressure and Keith smiled when he felt a tremor roll through the man in his arms.

"Keith… God," Lance breathed, breaking the kiss to nuzzle and kiss his way down Keith's throat. Craning his head back in encouragement, Keith tried to catch his breath… he hadn't felt anything like this in… years. A few kisses with Lance and he felt like a horny teen again, all fire and need and hunger. Necking. They were necking, like a couple of high schoolers, and he was pretty sure from the scrape of teeth and rasp of morning stubble that his neck was going to be marked all to hell, but it felt too damn good to really care much about that at the moment. "Okay," Lance muttered, lifting his head to drag in a shaky lungful of air, "we… need to… umm… be… adults.. Here."

"I can think of several very adult activities-" He was silenced by a hand clapping over his mouth and a stern look from Lance.

"Shhhh! No. Don't even think about it… Keith," his expression was pleading, "the day's just starting… but we **have** to figure out what's going on… So," he took another shaky breath, "I'm gonna go find us some breakfast. **You** are going to see if Kolivan got back to you, and if he hasn't- reach out to your mom and to Coran for good measure. Deal?"

With Lance's hand still covering his mouth like that, all Keith could do was nod and let out a very muffled, "mmmhmm." He wasn't exactly a **fan** of what Lance was saying, but he had to admit he had a point.

"Okay… so I'm getting up and you are **not** going to drag me back here or catch me or any other stunt, right?" Smirking playfully, Lance made an exaggerated show of lifting his hand.

"Right," grumbled Keith, "you are on food duty, I'm on comms. Then we're taking the day to enjoy each other. Deal?"

Lance stood, stretching his back and doing absolutely nothing to hide the rather impressive tent he was sporting in his sleep pants as Keith's heated gaze roamed over him. "As long as skinny dipping is somewhere on the schedule for the day, that works for me," he answered, winking at Keith as he turned and walked away. In a blink, the heavy curtains shifted to gauze and Lance sauntered out of the room, whistling to himself.

"That was **low**!" Keith called after him once his brain kicked in enough to form words around the all too tempting prospect of Lance+ water + **naked**.

"Hey! If I've gotta be the mature grown-up here, I'm gonna make you suffer, too!"

"Mature… right… that was soooo mature," he muttered to himself, digging out his phone. There was a message from Kolivan, but it didn't really contain any answers or explanations. Just a few words, in Kolivan's typically brusque manner. 'I see the error here. A simple mistranslation. Let me see what I can do to rectify it. Will update you shortly.' Suuuuuuper helpful. Lance was going to be compleeeeetely satisfied with that answer. Although… on the upside- as long as they didn't know what was going on, they should probably avoid going anywhere public… which meant sticking to the privacy of their suites. He definitely didn't **hate **the idea of being tucked away with his brand new boyfriend in the lap of luxury and with only each other for company and entertainment.

"Keith!?" Lance stormed back into the room, his own phone in his hand, "let me see the message you sent. Right now!"

"What?! Sure. Fine… quiznak, calm down already…" He pulled it up and handed the phone to Lance who dropped onto the mattress beside him and poured over it with an intensity Keith had rarely seen from him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but Veronica is livid and my mother is in a panic, and neither of them seem to be making any sense, so something is up and there's no way it's not related to the universe's most boring parade yesterday. That's not how my life works- it's definitely not how **your** life works!" He chewed his lip, reading and then he paused, "okay, my Galran isn't great… how do you pronounce that word, right there?" He pointed to the screen.

"Mine's pretty crap, too, Lance," he pointed out, "that's why I used a translation program in the first place… that one is… umm… Kai-Am-Un-Dill. It means presentation."

"Kai-Am-Un… wait! Kai'imam Und'ill?"

"Yeah, I guess… some of the dialects are a bit different…"

Lance's face changed, the panic leaving his eyes and relief and humor flooding them, "oh my God… it means Presentation…"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

He laughed, shaking his head, "no, Keith. Capital P Presentation… the ritual. Not 'hey we are giving a talk at a University.' It's like how saying that the bathroom is occupied means something **totally **different from saying that a country is **occupied**."

"I… don't understand what you are saying, Lance." Well, he did, kind of, but he didn't understand how it explained anything.

"Do you want to know how I know that term?"

"Sure?"

"Acxa and Veronica are talking about it. Acxa wanted to know if Veronica wanted to take part in a Galra tradition called Kai'imam Und'ill… My sister is **pissed** that I… oh God this is hilarious! Keith, Acxa is going to **kill** you for this."

"I still don't know what you are talking about."

"Really?! Oh, that just makes it funnier. It used to have a longer name… the um… Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai, I think? The Presentation of The Beloved. Keith- you told who knows how many people that you were bringing me, 'The Bearer of Allura's Legacy' to Daibazaal to announce our **betrothal**."

"Our **what?!** Lance! I had no idea! You have to believe me!"

"Of course I believe you," he laughed, "you looked like you were going to faint from moving your pillow two feet last night- there's no way you cooked up some kind of elaborate plan to trick me into a freaking engagement… no… not an engagement… a _pre_-engagement? Is that a thing?"

"Why would I know if it was a thing? This is all just a misunderstanding, anyway. We can undo this. In a movement this is going to be a funny story that we tell people- like the time Hunk accidentally challenged that Prince for the throne when he offered him food."

"Oh man, that was hilarious. Poor Hunk was in such a panic." His laughter faded and he went pale, "oh shit… Keith… if my mother and sister have heard that, **and** there was a fucking parade for us yesterday… that means… the intergalactic media has the information!"

"Yeah… so?"

"So, it's a lot harder to undo this kind of thing once the press has gotten ahold of it."

"It can't be that hard," Keith insisted, "we'll just… issue a statement or something. Kolivan already said he was going to try to fix it."

"Well…" He sighed, "we'll just have to see what Kolivan comes up with… but I'm going on the record here as saying that I do not think this is going to be an easy fix."

"It'll be fine," Keith said, sending a silent prayer that he was right and he and Lance weren't locked into some kind of pre-engagement less than a quintant after their first kiss. "But you should smooth things over with your family… did you have time to figure out breakfast before you heard from them?"

"Mmmhmmm… room service again. Some kind of alien crepes and fresh, local, in season fruit! We can feed it to each other!"

"We can what?" he laughed, "you are really going all in on the whole boyfriend thing aren't you?"

"Listen," Lance purred, leaning down to cup Keith's face. His eyes were hooded and focused on Keith's lips and he was so close and smelled so good and sounded even better and it was getting hard to remember what they had been talking about. Keith's whole body felt like it was being pulled closer to Lance somehow. His mouth went dry and his breath stuttered. "I'm gonna be the best boyfriend you have ever had… just you wait and see…"

"Mmmhmm…. Okay…" Sure. Fine. Whatever he said… just as long as he- ahhhhh…. He felt Lance's lips settle against his own and his blood sang. Jeez- it wasn't even that heated of a kiss! Almost chaste… but everything in him just lit up and hummed from the contact. Even as Lance pulled back and smiled at him, Keith could feel tingles radiating out from every tiny point of contact between them.

"You are so agreeable this morning," he teased, "who'd have guessed a few little kisses would do so much for your mood?"

The little pleasant bubble he'd be floating in burst and he scowled, "go talk to your mother and Veronica already."

"Impatient to have my attention all on you, huh?" He teased- because he was Lance and of course he did. He hadn't changed in all the years they'd known each other so why would he now? Well, that wasn't precisely true. He had changed, in a lot of ways- good and bad- it was just that he'd always been a flirt and always would be a flirt. That particular thing was never going to change- it was too innate to who he was. He wasn't even wrong… Keith was impatient… it just hadn't really sunk in yet that… **everything** was different now.

"You're not?" Keith said, surprising himself with the way his own voice sounded, all husky and playful at the same time, "because you sounded pretty impatient last night… and you felt pretty impatient this morning when you were clinging to my hair and trembling when I-"

"Keith! I have to go talk to my **mother** right now! What are you trying to do to me?!"

"I dunno?" He shrugged, smirking, "get back at you for the skinny dipping comment?"

"But I'm the only competitive one… surrrrrrrre..." muttered Lance as he left the room again, already calling his mother even as he shook his head.

Keith checked his phone again, hoping for another update from Kolivan. No such luck. He chewed at his lip, debating his next step and then sighed. If the McClains had already heard, then he really shouldn't put off talking to Shiro. Hell, Veronica had probably already called him… she might have even yelled at him for not giving her a heads up- even though he had no idea about any of this mess.

Flopping back onto the mattress like a kid, he hit the speed dial for Shiro's personal line. Even systems away, the call connected before the end of the first ring.

"The **news**, Keith?!" Shiro demanded by way of greeting, "after everything we've been through, I find out about you and Lance through a news clip? How does your brain even work!? How long has this been going on? Why the hell didn't you say anything? Did you think I wouldn't be supportive? I thought we were past this secretive bullshit!"

"Oh, my God, Shiro… stop!" he groaned, rubbing at his face. "It's just a misunderstanding!"

"So… you and Lance?" Shiro trailed off expectantly.

"Well… okay- this is maybe a little complicated. We're on Thayserix."

"Yes, Keith, I know that. I saw footage of the 'beloved former Paladins and symbols of the new beginning for intergalactic relations' arrival on Thayserix and the 'procession to the romantic hideaway' you're staying in on the news while I ate my breakfast. That was… a surprise, to say the least."

"That was… not something we planned. I didn't even know that we were being filmed… but I guess… yeah, I was dumb not to think of that."

"You're focusing on the wrong things, Keith! Why didn't you tell me? I didn't even know you guys were dating! You realise I look like a complete idiot now, right?"

"There was nothing to tell!" Keith insisted, "like I said, this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"So you and Lance are **not** tucked up in a high end love-nest on a resort planet right now?"

"Umm… well.. I guess… technically, that would be one way to describe this place… but-"

"And you and Lance are not a thing?"

"So… about that…"

"And you are not headed to Daibazaal together?"

"No, we are… it's just…"

"I'm not seeing any misunderstandings here, Keith!"

"You're not letting me **talk**, Takashi," he snapped. "Lance was coming with me to Daibazaal to speak at a university. Not announce our betrothal. Presentation is a specific thing in Galra culture and I didn't know, so I used the wrong word… and people kind of… ran with it. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, that's all." He sighed, Shiro was so steady and rational when it came to work, but personal stuff involving Keith? He was a total mother hen.

"So, there's nothing going on with you and Lance?"

"Uhhhhh… well… there WASN'T when we left Earth…"

"Keith!" He couldn't tell if Shiro was exasperated, or excited, or pissed off, or what. He just sounded… frazzled. "Spill."

"Spill? What are we high schoolers?" Which- okay, to be fair, he and Lance **were** necking like horny teenagers not all that long ago… but still.

"You can't answer that question with 'well there wasn't when we left Earth' and just leave it at that, Keith. Not after all this time! So… explain. Is that better?"

"I asked him to come talk at the university with me. I didn't think he'd agree, but he did. I just… I wanted him to remember… you know?" He sighed, "and then we got here and everything was so weird, so we messaged Kolivan to see if he knew what was up and just stuck to the suite in the meantime. It's a realllllly niiiiice suite… and then last night- Shiro, you wouldn't believe it! He was making plans! He wants everyone to come here- together… **all** of us!"

"Wait- Lance was talking about going **back** to Thayserix?"

"Yes! It's… he's… I haven't seen him like this in years… and then… it was late and he said something and we talked and… we didn't even know what was going on- out there. But… yeah… we're… uh… together. Now. As of… sometime last night, I guess."

"Together?"

"Mmhmm." Why did talking to Shiro about this stuff always make him feel fourteen? Boyfriend. Lance was his boyfriend. It should not be difficult to say. They'd been very clear with each other. But, for the life of him, he couldn't keep from stumbling around the word when he was talking to Shiro.

"Like a… vacation fling… or…?"

"No… not a fling. We're not kids. We're together, together." Okay, that was just ridiculous! Grow **up,** Kogane! Taking a deep breath, he started over. "He's my boyfriend… Completely separate from all the 'presentation' stuff. It's brand new, and I'm kind of not really believing it yet… but. Yeah. Lance is my boyfriend now, and you are officially the first person I told."

"Holy shit." Keith actually heard Shiro drop into his chair- he even recognized the little squeak that told him he was in his office at home, not on the Atlas. "You and Lance. Finally. Wow… that's-"

"Yup, that's kind of where I'm at, too."

"What happened? The PG-13 version, please."

"The PG-13 version is the **only** version so far, Shiro, relax. Just… I don't know. We talked and then… I was almost asleep but not quite and he said some stuff and I realised that I… that… my interest wasn't as one-sided as I thought… and then he said something about meeting him in the middle… and so… I did." He laughed, "like… literally. I moved halfway between where we were sleeping. Anyway… we talked about what we wanted and stuff and we… we're on the same page. So, yeah. Lance… is my boyfriend now… and I guess, technically, my uh… pre-fiance? Is that a thing? Until we can smooth things over with… the media."

"No, that's not a thing! Are you out of your mind? Of course that's not a thing! A 'pre-fiance'? That's a boyfriend. Those are the steps: boyfriend, fiance, husband. Please!" Shiro laughed. Of course he laughed. Once Keith heard it outloud he realised just how dumb it had sounded. He'd have laughed, too. The chuckles died down and when Shiro spoke again, his voice was soft, and skeptical. "You're telling me that you and Lance, after all this time, got together because you actually talked to each other like adults? You? And Lance McClain?"

"You know what? I'm just going to hang up if you plan on being a dick for the whole conversation!"

"Sorry! Sorry. It's just… not how I figured it would go, that's all. I kind of thought one or the other of you would cave into the… umm… let's call it… tension… and then you know… when you guys crawled out of bed, you'd be an item."

"One or the other- wait. Are you saying you **knew** he was into me and you never said anything!? **Shiro!**!"

"I'm saying I have eyes, Keith! And I've known you both for a long time… and I have enough sense to stay **out **of your personal life. So, no… I didn't know for a fact. He never told me or anything. I wasn't even sure **he** knew… but, you guys have always had… a spark. Even before Voltron. It was very romcom."

He had to say 'romcom', didn't he? All of Keith's irritation dissolved, happy memories from the night before melting any annoyance he was feeling. "Lance said something similar last night. He said it felt like we were tuning in to the middle of a romcom…"

"Are you talking about meeeeeeee?" Lance asked from the doorway, "awwww… that's so cute! Who are you talking to? No! Let me guess!" He tapped his chin playfully as he came into the room, "not Kolivan- I can tell by your voice. Your mothe-no, not Krolia. So, either Acxa or Shiro… and you aren't placating… so I'm going with- Shiro! Is it Shiro?"

"Yes," he laughed, fizzing little sparks of something close to joy bubbling through him, "it's Shiro."

"Oh, cool!" Before Keith was even aware it was happening, Lance had plucked the phone from his grasp, "heyyyyyyyy Shiro! I hear we were on the news! Did you see us?"

Of course, because it was Lance, he started to pace as he talked. Keith just shook his head and let him take over the conversation.

"Please tell me that Keith explained the mix-up! He did? Oh good- that means I can focus on the important stuff! This place is amazing!" Lance flung his arm out, gesturing to the room as if Shiro could see him. Keith couldn't help but smile at his renewed enthusiasm. "We were talking last night, and I love our yearly dinners on New Altea… but… I think we should all get together and have some **actual fun,** too! You should see the suite we are in- it's huge. There's a kitchen that would make Hunk swoon- and I would know, I had to help him design the kitchen at his place on Earth. There's a media room with a planetarium ceiling! Pidge might cry actual tears! The pool has a waterfall, Shiro! If you order room service, it **floats** to you on little hovering trays! We need to all come here- the five Earthling Paladins. Just us. You guys all need to take breaks more often." Lance tossed a smile over his shoulder at Keith, his eyes sparkling. "What? No! This isn't because of that… look, I'm going to send you pictures of this place- you'll love it. There are so many places to nap, Shiro. Just so many perfect nap spots!"

Keith laughed, he couldn't help it. It had always struck him as bizarre the way that Lance and Shiro had bonded over the joys of napping, of all things. Of course Lance would use the potential for good naps as an argument to sway Shiro. He should have expected that. It was clear that Lance's conversation with Shiro wasn't winding down anytime soon, so he took the opportunity to duck into the bathroom.

When he returned, one towel wrapped around his waist and another draped over his head, Lance was just disconnecting the call. "Sorry, he had a work thing. Said to give you his love." He caught Keith's hand and tugged him down for a kiss, the smile on his face letting Keith know that he was appreciating the view.

"He works too hard," Keith whispered when the kiss broke, smiling back at Lance as he collected his phone from him, "always has."

"Mmm… I am aware. Veronica rides his ass for it."

He grimaced, digging clean clothes out of his bag, "that's an image I didn't need, Lance. Thanks for that."

"What?" He blinked, realisation of what he'd said slowly dawning in those blue eyes. The grossed out face he made as comprehension dawned made him look seventeen again and Keith couldn't resist laughing at how young and adorable he looked. "Ohhh… gross! Man, your mind is just zoooooom, straight into the gutter, isn't it?"

"Pretty sure my mind isn't ever 'straight', Lance," he teased.

"Haha," Lance rolled his eyes, "look at you, trying at being funny. It's a good thing you're so…" He trailed off, just waving a hand at Keith, his cheeks coloring.

"It's a good thing I'm so… what, Lance?" It was rare to see Lance at a loss for words, and he was suddenly _very _curious about how Lance had intended to finish that comment.

"Nope- not feeding your ego. Not doing it. The joke was weak and you don't deserve the compliment."

He grinned, "but it was definitely a compliment… so maybe it doesn't matter exactly what the compliment was… I'll just… fill in the blank. It's a good thing I'm so… mmmm… charming?"

"You are not charming, and you know it. You are an awkward grump with a temper!" Lance argued, "**I'm** charming!"

He hauled on a t-shirt, "ummm… It's a good thing I'm soooo… sexy?"

"Tha-what? Pfft… no… that's not what I was gonna say… please… Just because you are parading around in a towel? Ha!"

Keith didn't even have to see Lance to know exactly the way he was throwing his hands around and the faces he was making. He slipped his boxers into his pants and pulled them both on at once, dropping the towel once they were settled over his hips. "A good thing I'm soooooo…. Adorable?"

"Adorable is **not **a word I would use to describe you, Keith!"

Barefoot, pants still undone, Keith crossed the mattress-floor to Lance, resting his hands on Lance's shoulders. "That's three guesses," he whispered, "you want me to keep guessing, or are you ready to tell me?"

"I'm still trying to figure out how you just managed to get dressed in front of me without a single slipped towel," Lance answered, slipping his arms around Keith's waist and even that small touch made his heart jump and his skin tingle, "that was impressive."

"Mmm… group homes, maybe? Or lots of time in locker rooms? I dunno- I've been doing it most of my life." He shrugged, watching Lance's face, "why? Disappointed?"

"Consoling myself with the knowledge that we're skinny dipping later," Lance breathed, inching closer.

"Soooo… it's a good thing I'm so….?"

"Pretty," Lance answered, "it's a good thing you're so pretty. That's what I was going to say."

"Pretty?! Really?" That was **not** what he'd been expecting, at all.

"Mmhmm… seriously, have you _seen_ your eyes? Because you have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen… ever."

"You are such a sap," he said, the words forming on a soft, breathless laugh. Because, of all the things Lance could have said, somehow, that was the perfect choice.

"Maybe, but as of last night, I'm _your_ sap. So, get used to it, handsome." His smile changed, cheeks flushing as the sweet, dreamy smile grew into a proud grin. Keith's pulse doubled at the thought that being with him was something that made Lance **proud**.

"My sap, huh? I think I can live with that." He closed the tiny distance between them, kissing him softly and soaking up the warmth of being in his arms.

"Keith," Lance groaned, stepping back, "the food's getting cold… and you are very, very distracting…"

"When did the food get here?"

"Just before you came out. Should still be hot…" He raked a hand through his hair, the soft brown strands sticking up every which way and looking far too endearing for Keith's heart to take. "You wanna watch a movie while we eat?"

"Mmmhmm… sure… movie. Okay," he nodded, reaching out to catch Lance and drag him back for one more kiss before they ate. "Breakfast and a movie. Sounds good."

* * *

Lance and naps.

They'd gotten cozy in the entertainment room- cuddled up together and feeding each other breakfast while they watched a movie, just like Lance had wanted. Then they'd gotten so caught up in each other that they'd missed the entire thing and Lance had insisted on starting it over from the beginning. Altean movies were kind of odd- they reminded Keith of the Greek plays they'd learned in school- but once Lance explained the basic structure from his spot on Keith's chest, it was easy enough to follow along. His boyfriend had gotten quieter as the movie progressed, belly laughs and boisterous comments fading into soft chuckles and murmurs. By the time the end credits were rolling, Lance was sound asleep, his head tucked up under Keith's chin, arms wrapped around him tight, and if Keith tried to move more than an inch or two, he muttered angrily and tightened his grip.

Oh well, it wasn't like Keith had anywhere he needed to be. He might as well enjoy it. Napping wasn't his thing, but it was certainly nice to be sprawled out on the comfy couch like this with Lance; soaking up his warmth and closeness, and surrounded by the scent of his skin, without feeling conflicted or guilty for enjoying it so much. He nuzzled the soft brown hair that was tickling his chin, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Lance's head. It was amazing how _content _he felt just lying there with Lance in his arms, some long-ignored, deep _ache_ in his heart melting away to nothing.

His phone buzzed and he grabbed it from the tray that held the remains of their breakfast. A message from Kolivan. Shifting slightly, but still enough to make Lance mutter and squeeze him tight, he tapped the message to open it. 'There has been a slight complication regarding the miscommunication from earlier. One of the remaining splinter factions of Zarkon's military has issued a threat. _Call off the impending union between the former Paladins, or face retribution for the forced unification of Galran culture and the New Alteans. We do not acknowledge or support the surrendering of any part of our culture to that of a people we defeated millennia ago. The halfbreed former Black Paladin does not speak for all Galrans, but as he is seen as a symbol of the future of the Galra by too many, it is unacceptable for him to publicly unite with someone so closely tied to New Altea in general, and to the usurper Allura in specific. We demand that the Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai be called off and a public statement be made that there will be no further political entanglement between our great Empire and the remnants of a people we conquered or we will ensure that the betrothal is never fulfilled. _At this point, any attempt to correct the miscommunication will be seen as conceding to terrorists and extremists. It could very well trigger a resurgence of violence in the contested areas.

Well, shit.

This was **not** going to go over well with… pretty much anyone. Keith sighed, debating whether to wake Lance or put off answering Kolivan. He reread the message half a dozen times, and each time he was more sickened by the words, the hateful pride that fueled them. The Galra were **better** than that. Overwhelmingly, the population had embraced peace, even though it meant rationing power for a while. Gradually, as more and more of the military installations had closed and the subsequent demand for quintessence had lessened, the rationing was being phased out. Overall, the Galra were thriving, working together to heal some of the wounds that Zarkon's war and Haggar's corruption had caused. They were returning to who they were **before** the taint of Honerva's misguided experiments.

But there were some who had thrived too well in the war, those that had embraced the twisted vision of the Universe that Zarkon and his Commanders had crafted. Sometimes, Keith found himself wishing that they'd been able to save Lotor, that they could have found a way to heal whatever it was that had gotten so broken and distorted in him. He couldn't shake the feeling that Lotor would have been able to pull those more fanatical splinter groups into line better than he had. But then… technically, Lotor was a 'halfbreed', too, and that tended to be their favorite argument against anything that could be traced to him. He'd turned **down** any official power, but Voltron had been a symbol that many had rallied behind, and he'd been a very visible member of Voltron, so even when he tried to keep a low profile, people noticed. Somehow, he'd become the 'face' of the **new** Galra way of life, and Lance had become the 'face' of New Altea, despite being human and not even living on New Altea. He'd been chosen by Allura and that was all that mattered to the universe.

Sighing, he rubbed Lance's back, trying to wake him gently. "Lance?" he said softly, "wake up, Hot Shot… we need to talk."

"Meet you on the bridge! M'coming!" Lance blurted out as he woke, jolting up to sitting so quickly that Keith could only blink at him. Wild-eyed, Lance whipped his head back and forth, his face the image of confusion. Slowly, realization settled over his face. "Oh… right… Thayserix." He smiled, "I remember."

"Are you okay?" Keith asked, setting his phone aside for a moment. He'd been sleeping so peacefully- or, at least, it had _seemed_ like he'd been sleeping peacefully.

"Mmhmm… just… I was dreaming about the Castle," he yawned, stretching, "thought we had to get to the Lions."

"Like a nightmare?" He couldn't keep the concern out of his voice.

Lance shook his head softly, "no, not a nightmare. Just dreamed that I was like dozing in the common room while everyone was milling around. Probably because you're here and I was talking to Shiro earlier."

"You're sure?" he coaxed, "because… if it was a nightmare, I'll listen. I… get it. We've… seen some shit that lingers."

"I promise, it wasn't a nightmare," Lance assured him, cupping his face and tracing Keith's scar with his thumb gently. "I was sleeping like a baby. Honest. Now- why'd you wake me up?"

"Oh! Right… uhh… Kolivan sent me a message. There's a problem." Sitting up fully, he grabbed his phone again, refreshing the screen and handing it to Lance. "Just… read it for yourself."

"Terrorists?" Lance said after a moment. "Are you shitting me?"

"Nope," Keith shook his head, "what was it you said about how our lives work?"

"Been your boyfriend less than a day and we're getting death threats. Maybe rom-com was the wrong genre of film. Holy crap."

"I can tell Kolivan to correct the misunderstanding if you want. I'm sure if we issue a press release it won't do-"

"Have you lost your mind? It's been less than a decade since the Empire was ripping itself apart to fill a power vacuum. Things are peaceful now, but that peace is delicate. The Blades can't afford to seem weak.** You** can't afford to seem weak! Not even a little bit. It could destabilize everything!"

"But that means-"

"Yeah. I guess it does. Looks like we are headed to Daibazaal to announce our betrothal. Veronica is just going to have to deal."

"This is ridiculous. I am so sorry I got you into this mess, Lance."

Lance caught his face in his hands, "hey- it's okay. There's no, like, time frame on the whole Presentation thing. We aren't locked into anything. We are actually together. We've already decided that this is something serious for us, right?"

"Yeah?" He wasn't sure where Lance was going with this.

"Right, so… it's not such a stretch to think that a serious relationship might eventually lead to us wanting to get married. So… instead of looking at this like something we are going to run out and start planning for right away… we can, between us, treat it as… like a symbol of intent. You know?"

"No?" He was trying, really… but he couldn't follow Lance's thought process at all. Probably because most of his own thought process was still trying to digest the idea that a simple mistranslation could cause such a ruckus.

Lance sighed, his eyes rolling up and his head bobbing from side to side the way it did when he was trying out different ways to phrase things. Keith had noticed that he did that all the back when they were at the Garrison together, and he'd always thought it was completely endearing, even when pretty much everything else Lance did annoyed him. "Alright. So, the Presentation is treated like… an engagement announcement, not a wedding. So… based on our conversation last night, we are together and we are both hoping that this will be… like a permanent thing, right?"

"Well, I'm not _hoping_ that we make each other miserable and our relationship crashes and burns, no," Keith answered. This was such a strange conversation.

Lance gave him an odd look, "should I be worried that **that's** where your brain went? Yikes! Okay, never mind. So, if we both want this to be a long-term, permanent kind of relationship, _eventually_ we'll probably want to get married, or like, buy a house, or like **some** kind of big commitment milestone thing, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess." He nodded, "I always kind of wanted to get married and have kids someday."

"Kids?" Lance's face broke out into a huge smile, "I didn't know that! You really want kids someday? How many?"

"I don't know- a couple… I see how important your memories of growing up with your siblings are to all of you guys, and it was really lonely when my Dad died and nobody else remembered him." He shrugged, "so… two at least. Three would be cool. Four- is probably pushing it."

"Three," Lance said, tangling their fingers together, "I can work with three. Three sounds pretty awesome."

"Yeah?" Something warm and bright filled his chest, making him smile. "I… uhh… I always kind of figured I'd like… foster-adopt… maybe siblings."

"Yeah," Lance's expression softened, "that sounds like you. I like that." He leaned in close enough to kiss Keith's cheek. "Foster-adopt three siblings. I like that plan."

"Not… for a while, though," Keith said in a rush, "not while I'm still travelling so much!"

Lance laughed, "well I didn't think we'd be filling out paperwork as soon as we got Earthside!" He shook his head, "alright, getting distracted… but… actually. Okay. What we just did? Make that little someday plan? That's how we should look at the whole Presentation thing. Just, don't get caught up in all the junk with the mistranslations and the titles and symbols and crap. It's just me. It's just you. We're going to Daibazaal, we're gonna officially announce that we are together, and someday, when **we** are ready, we plan to make it all legal and traditional and stuff."

"How are you **not** freaking out right now?" Keith asked him, completely in awe of how easily Lance was taking this in stride. "You didn't even want to leave the farm!"

"I guess I'm just happy," he lifted their joined hands, pressing a kiss to Keith's knuckles, "and in the grand scheme of things, having the universe think we are planning a wedding someday doesn't really feel like a **bad** thing."

"And the terrorists?" He asked, stunned.

"Meh- it's a splinter cell. C'mon, we've faced down scarier shit than that before we could legally buy booze everywhere on Earth. The two of us together? We can take'em."

"You…" he breathed, pulling Lance into his arms and burying his face in the curve of his broad shoulder as he laughed. **This** was the Lance he'd fought beside, the Lance he'd trusted implicitly to cover him, the Lance that challenged him and grounded him and reminded him that life was more than pain and violence and loss. **This** was the brave, charming, smart, optimist he'd fallen in love with. "You're so amazing."

"Soooo glad you finally appreciate the Razzle-Dazzle, Mullet," Lance answered, pressing a kiss to his throat that sent shivers racing up and down Keith's spine. "Okay- you need to reply to Kolivan, and let him know we are going through with the Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai… and then we have some work to do."

"Work? What work?" He didn't want to **work**. He wanted to remind Lance about those plans to go skinny dipping. He wanted to drag him back to the bedroom and figure out what was in each and every one of those pretty little bottles that had been on the tray beside the bed.

"Are you serious?" Lance backed off, studying his face, "oh wow- you are. Okay. We need to go over your itinerary, and speak to the leaders of every planet on it. Then we need to figure out security protocols for each leg of the trip. We need to speak to Coran and make sure that neither of us inadvertently do something that reflects badly on New Altea. We need to learn **exactly** what is involved in a proper Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai. We both need to reach out to our sisters and patch things up with them, because honestly, I am **way** more worried about what Acxa and Veronica might do to us than I am about some racist wackjobs that think they know the one true path. Those two know where we _sleep_, Keith!"

"Don't you think you are blowing things a little out of proportion?" He asked, head reeling from all that stuff that would** never** have even crossed his mind. "You just told me to ignore all the political stuff and the symbols and crap…"

"Yeah, for you and me. In private. For everyone else, we need to play this _exactly _right, Keith. Like it or not, we are basically throwing together a Royal Wedding In Space… I mean, it's not a _wedding_ but that's the closest thing we have to compare it to. We might have to invite dignitaries and shit…."

"This is turning into a huge headache already," he muttered.

"We've got this," Lance assured him, "you deal with the security concerns and coordinate with the Blades, I've got everything else."

Lance's eyes were practically dancing as he hopped up and ducked out of the room. He returned a few doboshes later with a data pad, his fingers flying over the screen. "We should probably backdate our relationship a bit for the media, huh?" He said conversationally, "it'll be suspicious if we say you planned this before we even got together. I mean, I _guess _we could spin it like it was some kind of grand romantic gesture if you really want…" He blinked at Keith expectantly.

"What?" Keith struggled to focus, because he was still adjusting to seeing Lance like this again after so long of him being… _dimmed_ somehow. How could he make 'working' so attractive?

"Do you want to pretend we've been quietly together for a while, or do you want to claim that you won me over with some big declaration of love and proposed on the spot?" Lance repeated, laughing softly, "sorry, I know this isn't exactly your skillset."

"Why do we have to say anything? Can't we just stick with 'this is what we are doing and everything else is private'?"

"Keith, we need to win people over." Lance dropped onto the couch beside him again, pushing a hand through all that soft brown hair. His whole face was alight with purpose and as he spoke his eyes sparkled and his hands flew around like they used to when he'd get into debates with Hunk about nonsense. "The people who released that threat are going to start waging a media war about how awful and dangerous it is for us to do this. They are going to use me and you to try and turn people to their way of thinking. If we act suspicious and cagey, we will be helping them convince people that there is some kind of sneaky political motivation. So, we need to speak to the press, and do interviews and be charming and loveable. We've got to become everyone's favorite celebrity couple in the amount of time it takes to get to Daibazaal."

"Celebrity couple? We aren't celebrities!" Maybe if he kept insisting that he wasn't a celebrity, it would someday come true. He didn't like being so recognizable. He didn't like the headaches that came along with it. It had been **years** since the Lions had… gone. Sure, he was still working with the Blades on humanitarian efforts, but he couldn't figure out why people hadn't gotten bored with that yet.

"Yes, in this context, we are. So, I was thinking- we should have a cutesy couple-name. Which do you like better? Klance? Or Laith? I kinda like Laith, because it means Lion- but that might be a little too on the nose? You know, with Voltron and everything... What do you think?"

"Really, Lance? A cutesy couple name? Ugh- I hate those! Why don't we just stick our surnames together the way that people do on wedding invitations? McClain-Kogane? Kogane-McClain?"

"Kogane-McClain sound like a football player that messes up the cup-winning-kick. No." He tapped one elegant finger against his chin thoughtfully, "McKogane?"

"I… really don't care- they are all equally cutesy," he said on a frustrated sigh, "what was the other thing you asked me about? Right! The whole 'how long have we been together thing… Let's say we've been seeing each other for… what? Two years? Does that work?"

"I dunno," Lance cooed, batting his eyelashes at Keith and making his heart do a little flip flop, "you think you'd be able to convince me to cross the galaxy to announce a betrothal after two years of dating?"

"Given that we are doing exactly that after less than a **day** of dating, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, yeah, I could do that," smirking, Keith crossed his arms over his chest.

Lance gaped at him for an instant before reaching out to smack his shoulder, "you're _terrible!_ I cannot believe you just said that!"

"It's the truth!" He caught Lance around the chest, pinning his arms to his sides so he couldn't smack him again. Lance lurched once, a token attempt to get away that didn't do anything but send them toppling backwards on the couch. "It hasn't even been a day," he said softly, "and you are working your ass off because of **my** screw up."

"Yeah, well… I've got your back, right? Always," he answered, his expression tender, "and this… it's been a long time coming, anyway."

"How long?" he asked, and immediately regretted it. He didn't need to know. He didn't **want** to know. He didn't want to think about wasted time. He didn't want to know how long he'd been suffering, trying to get over Lance, trying to avoid ruining their friendship, while Lance had been completely open to how Keith felt.

"I… that's complicated," Lance said quietly, "losing Allura… it fucked me up for a long time… you know that…"

"It's okay," Keith breathed, kissing Lance's forehead, "I don't even want you to answer it. We're together now. That's all I care about."

"Two years works," Lance said instead, "or we could just say we don't know. That we've been friends for years and we've been getting closer this whole time, and then somewhere along the way, we fell in love… and we don't really pay attention to when things happen."

"That feels more like the truth…" He loosened his hold on Lance and smiled as he felt Lance settle his weight against him more comfortably, his long legs and narrow hips and broad shoulders fitting against Keith's frame better than he ever would have imagined. "I like that… let's say that…"

"God, Keith," Lance sighed, "if you keep looking at me like that we are definitely going to become the universe's favorite love-birds…"

"How am I looking at you?" he laughed, "I'm just looking at you! I'm not doing anything special…"

"You and your pretty, expressive eyes… it's not fair, you know that, right?" He grumbled, "nobody should have eyes that pretty!"

"Are you serious?" Keith whispered, lifting a hand to trace his finger along Lance's eyebrow, "your eyes look like the water at Varadero Beach right before a storm and you call **my** eyes pretty?"

"My eyes look like what?" Lance shifted, one of his hands finding its way into Keith's hair, "when have you ever seen Varadero before a storm?"

"Years ago," he answered, still whispering, because it felt like if he spoke at full volume he'd wake up and discover that none of this was real. "Before we left Earth in the Atlas… you had us all come down for a weekend. Me and Hunk fixed up your brothers' old hover bikes and took them out for a run. We ended up at the beach, just hanging out. The water changed, and the air, too… Hunk said a storm was coming, so we headed back. But the water- it was the exact color of your eyes. It was the only time I'd ever seen that color without it being you in my face."

"You remember that?" Lance sounded awed, "you didn't remember that I _existed_ when we rescued Shiro, but you saw the ocean before a storm and could say that it was the same color as my eyes when I wasn't even there?"

"Well, I knew you a lot better when we were in Cuba, Lance," he pointed out, his cheeks burning.

"Uh-huh… what color are Pidge's eyes?" Lance smirked.

"What? Why are you asking me that?"

"Just curious. What color are they?"

"Brown," he replied, not sure where Lance was going with this, "light brown."

"Mmmm… wait- you knew Matt before Kerberos, didn't you?" His brows furrowed, "what color are Coran's eyes?"

"Coran? Uhh… blue, I think?"

"They're purple," Lance chuckled, relaxing, "dark purple, not pale like Romelle's, or smokey like yours."

"Okay?" He trailed his fingers up and down Lance's back, reveling in the way he could just… **touch** him now.

"I was just checking to see if you were like poetic about eyes in general, or if it's just mine," he smirked, "but that Cuba trip… it was… a long time ago, Keith."

"Mmmhmm," he answered, "it was. It was a good trip though. Shiro got sunburnt, remember? He was _such_ a baby about it, too!"

"Oh my God, I'd forgotten about that. He kept making that little whining noise when he'd move wrong! And Coran got drunk with my Pop-Pop and tried to teach him old Altean songs!"

"And you taught Romelle how to salsa. She still talks about that."

"She does?" His smile was fond, wistful. "Remember the sand sculpture she and Allura made with Luis' kids? Some weird Altean storybook critter. I haven't thought about that weekend in years."

Keith went quiet, waiting to see how Lance would react to being reminded of Allura, and bracing for him to pull away. Instead, Lance leaned in and kissed him gently, "that was a long time ago, Keith… and if that's the only time you've seen Varadero before a storm…"

"Doesn't matter," he whispered, "what matters is right here and right now… and making the most of this, because from the sound of it, privacy is gonna be scarce for the next while."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, skinny dipping didn't last long. Lance + water was always bad for Keith's self-control, but now that he could touch Lance without fear of rejection, that self-control didn't seem to even engage in the first place.

Giggling and sighing and moaning into kisses and caresses, they left a trail of wet footprints and water droplets from the pool to the giant bed. One by one they made their way through all the pretty bottles that had been left bedside for them- identifying their contents and purposes.

Keith's favorite was the massage oil that made Lance's beautiful skin actually glow. He'd taken his time kneading it into those strong muscles, enjoying the excuse to touch every inch of Lance's body. He was no masseuse by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't difficult to give a relaxing massage. All it took was slow, steady pressure and paying attention to how Lance reacted. By the time he was done, Lance was glowing softly, a dim, warm light radiating from him. It reminded Keith of some kind of ancient sculpture cast in gleaming brown metal or perfectly polished wood. Even his scars were beautiful. Very few were from the war- the Paladins had escaped scarring from most of their injuries thanks to access to the Altean healing pods. Almost all of the marks Keith found on Lance's skin were from civilian life- and to Keith, that was part of why they were beautiful. It was like they were little memorials to a peaceful life.

The mark on his shoulder from getting caught on a loose nail when roughhousing with his older brothers as a kid. The three little dots near his hairline on the nape of his neck where he'd scratched bug bites too much as a toddler. The pale splotch low on his hip from bumping into the side of the metal barbeque while it was still scorching hot. Others- each one a small reminder of a life well lived, where the biggest danger was your own carelessness.

Lance's favorite was some kind of pleasure enhancing mist. He'd initially thought it was a perfume or cologne of some sort and had spritzed it on his wrists and neck. Within a few moments he was squirming and giggling from even the most innocent touch. Once he'd figured out what it actually did, his blue eyes had lit up with impish curiosity and a few short doboshes later, they were both coated in the stuff. Not that Keith thought they really needed the boost- he suspected the spray was intended for couples who were well past that first intoxicating rush of passion and discovery- but he wasn't going to complain about it either. The effects lasted a few vargas and by the time they realized it had worn off, they'd both been happily sated and basking in the rosy haze of afterglow.

Keith had been ready to nap- preferably nestled in a hammock outside in the fresh air and warm sunlight, but Lance seemed to be buzzing with energy. Curled up in the crook of Keith's arms, he'd started sending out messages to gather information about what exactly was required of them now that it had been decided that they were going ahead with the presentation thingie.

Any worries about it being a huge public affair were quickly laid to rest. As it turned out, it was a serious but quiet affair that involved contemplation and some vows to be exchanged, witnessed only by each other, one representative of each family, and one representative of each 'Line'. Both Kolivan and Coran had tried to explain exactly what constituted a 'Line" but it all sailed right over Keith's head. Ultimately, they and Lance had decided that meant one trusted Galra, one trusted Human, and one trusted Altean, plus one person from each of their families.

Because of the threat of violence neither was all that keen on putting Lance's civilian family in harm's way. Plus, given that Veronica and Acxa had been discussing the possibility of performing the ritual themselves, they'd decided to invite them as the family representative for Lance and the 'trusted Galra'. Shiro would act as the trusted human, Coran as the trusted Altean, and Krolia as Keith's family.

Lance was very careful to double and triple check the translations of the traditional vows- leery of agreeing to something they didn't fully understand. Keith was astounded by the amount of work he managed to get accomplished with a few calls and some messages.

Keith's whole itinerary had been rewritten to accommodate the new purpose of their voyage. Their time on Thayserix was extended by two quintants, during which time they had a couple of media appearances and an interview.

From there they were headed to a planet Keith had never heard of- Plinkertep, or something- for a state dinner and to rendezvous with a small group of hand-picked Blades to act as a security buffer.

After that… it was still somewhat up in the air. What he did know was that his quiet little 'space road trip' to Daibazaal was now a media circus, and that there were a surprising number of people ready and willing to drop everything and travel millions upon millions of miles to help with a mess he made. No one had even really complained all that much about it, either. He was sure it was because Lance had some kind of persuasion magic, because there was no way that things would have gone that smoothly if Keith had been the one making the calls.

"You're amazing," he murmured into Lance's hair as he ducked his head to press a kiss to his boyfriend's temple.

"Mmmhmm…" Lance hummed, "we just had a whole lot of really intense new relationship sex. It'd be weird if you didn't think I was amazing right now."

Keith laughed, "well, yeah… that is true… but I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about how you are making the whole Presentation nightmare be… not a nightmare."

"That's because it isn't a nightmare," answered Lance, tipping his face up to get a better view of Keith's. "If publicly stating that we are together, and we're serious, and we hope that it leads us to marriage eventually is something that feels like a _nightmare_ to you… you should say that now."

Keith froze. That hadn't been what he meant at all! Lance's face was closed off, almost brittle. Keith could practically taste the **hurt** in the air. Shit! How had he fucked that up?

"Keith?"

"No! I don't think- I mean.. That's not what-" He trailed off, trying to find the right words as worry and panic started to claw at him. "I was trying to compliment you," he finally muttered.

"By telling me that people knowing we're together and hope to spend our lives that way is a _nightmare?_ How is that a compliment?"

"**That's** not the nightmare part!" he yelped, rolling them until Lance was on his back with Keith sprawled over his chest, head propped up so he could meet Lance's eyes. "All the other stuff is- the organizing and shit… The me and you stuff… that's… like… the opposite of a nightmare!"

Lance arched one expressive, elegant eyebrow at him, "you're sure?"

"Yes," he nodded for emphasis, "being with you like this could never be a nightmare, Lance. I don't like the spotlight as much as you do, so ideally, I would have liked for us to have some time before the whole galaxy found out we are together… but even that isn't a nightmare. It's just… this whole _thing_ with the publicity and the security and all that… it's not really what you signed on for when you agreed to come with me. It's not really what I thought last night would lead to. It's just… a lot…"

Lance smiled warmly, "I'm used to dealing with a lot, Keith. My family is a lot. Hell, **you** are a lot! That doesn't scare me. I like being the center of attention, remember? All you have to do is show up, be gorgeous, and keep looking at me just like that… I'll handle the rest."


	2. Chapter 2 of 2- Cutesy Couple Name

"Stop touching your face," Lance hissed, giving Keith's hand a squeeze.

"This stuff **itches!**" he hissed back, scrunching his nose. "Why do we have to wear make-up again?"

"It is a gesture of welcome," Lance explained, for like the eighth time. Keith knew why, he just didn't _like_ that it meant his face would itch. "The Palik'Ta'Enpar people paint guests' faces to mirror their own facial markings to symbolize that guests are one of them while on their soil. It is very sweet."

"And itchy," Keith muttered, "how are you not itchy right now?"

"I am, but if I scratch, it will mess up the paint, and possibly offend the _Royal Family_ that are hosting us and celebrating our relationship. Soooo… I'm contenting myself with the knowledge that in a few hours I get to wash it off and doing my best to ignore the itching." Lance smiled at him, "it helps that you look amazing."

"I don't look amazing. I look like an abstract painting."

"I'm the one looking at you," laughed his boyfriend, "trust me, you look amazing."

"Oh," he felt his cheeks heat below the paint. He smiled at Lance, who genuinely **did** look amazing. One side of his face was covered in carefully rendered pale green triangles fitted together to look like a mosaic. The other side was a soft, shimmering copper. Heavy, dark green lines framed his eyes like kohl, and there was a black dot directly below his bottom lip. Keith's own face was painted similarly, although where Lance had shades of green, Keith had a selection of blues. "You look amazing, too. Your eyes are practically glowing."

"Awww, thanks, babe!" His smile was so big and bright that it made Keith's heart skip a beat. They were waiting for the Blades that had been assigned to them as security to collect them from their guest quarters- a small, round, three-roomed cottage- and escort them to the common dining area where they were to join the Royal Family and a selection of socially powerful Palik'Ta'Enpar for dinner. "I'm kind of loving these romper-jumpsuit things, though. Very comfy and breezy."

"Mmhmm," Keith just nodded, because he knew better than to look. The traditional dress on this planet seemed to be specifically designed to increase the birth-rate! It was a one piece garment that was completely open at the sides and loosely secured at the shoulders with jewelled clasps that created deep scoops at both the neck and the back. Three little copper chains clipped the silky fabric together at each hip and another secured the fabric at the ankles. He'd never really thought of someone's **side** as being particularly sexy until the tick he'd been greeted with the sight of Lance in that outfit. They were both wearing pale, shimmering grey garments, which was apparently the color for unmarried lovers here. He wasn't used to having such private information broadcasted so publicly, but he could deal with it if it meant that Lance looked _like that_ because of it.

"I wonder if we get to keep these," mused Lance.

"I'm going to guess that we do- these had to be made especially for us," he pointed out. The Palik'Ta'Enpar were, on average, well over seven feet tall. Some of them would make Kolivan seem short. Either they'd dyed children's clothing grey, or they'd custom made the things to fit him and Lance.

"Oh good," he smirked, the expression distorting all those green triangles, "I wanna see you in this some time when I don't have to keep my eyes on your face or risk an intergalactic scandal- this fabric doesn't hide much."

"Lance!"

"What?! You look like you belong in a harem or something! I'm going to notice that!"

"Oh my god, I cannot believe you!" He barely caught himself before he rubbed his face in mortification and ruined the paint.

Lance's smile was sly and Keith could actually see the mischief in his eyes, "I noticed that you are being very careful to keep looking at _just_ my face, too, Samurai- so don't try to pretend you aren't in the exact same boat as I am. I'd kiss you right now, but…" He trailed off, because between the carefully applied paint and the thin fabric it was obvious that kissing was probably a bad idea, given how easily they both seemed to get caught up in it.

There was a knock at the door and Lance winked at him, "ready, Cutie?"

"Cutie?!" He rolled his eyes, "don't call me cutie- but yeah. Let's go." He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. You'd think after all these years, he'd have gotten used to formal dinners and meeting the high muckety mucks of alien cultures, but- nope. Still felt like stage fright every single time. Imposter syndrome was a bitch.

"You'll do fine, babe," Lance said softly as he opened the door, "it's just dinner and I'll be right there with you. If you need to bail on a conversation, just call me Hot Shot and I'll whisk you away. Got it?"

"Hot Shot," he repeated, nodding. "Just like the old days." As much as he disliked _needing_ it he was very glad to have an escape strategy, and this was one Lance had come up with all the way back to before he was the Black Paladin. Bringing his mind back to the present, he couldn't help but grin at the sight of Tengrill and Lo'Kasil, two of the Blades that had volunteered to play bodyguard for them. Lo'Kasil had fur, so he'd been spared the experience of being painted to match their hosts, but he did have to wear the traditional clothing, and the solution that the Palik'Ta'Enpar had come up with for the lack of face markings was a carefully detailed mask. Keith could tell he was scowling just from seeing his eyes through the holes in the mask. Tengrill on the other hand, kept lifting his hand as if to scratch his face and dropping it with a small, distressed noise. Both of them had weapons strapped to their backs, and communication gauntlets on their forearms. It made for a strange juxtaposition against the delicate, fluttering clothing they wore. The warm yellow worn by unattached adults was surprisingly flattering, too.

"Looking good, guys," Lance said cheerfully, stepping out of the room. "Ready to eat? I hear the food on this planet is delicious!"

"They are vegetarians," Lo'Kasil said, his voice gruff and dismissive, "I'm not sure that their food will be well suited to a Galran palette."

"You'll eat it, and you'll be complimentary," Tengrill insisted, "unless you want to explain to Kolivan how you damaged relations with a valuable ally because they didn't serve you meat."

"Next stop after this one is a race of obligate carnivores," Keith reminded him, as they started walking, "so there'll be lots of meat for you to choose from."

"Hey, I used to be the same way about vegetarian foods from Earth," Lance said conversationally, "then I had this like chickpea and lentil curry thing at Shiro's that was… it was just soooo good, you guys. It was delicious, and every bit as filling as like a steak."

"Who cooked?" Keith asked, laughing softly, "because you said it was delicious, so I know it wasn't Shiro!"

"Curtis," answered Lance, with a grin, "that was one of the conditions of me agreeing to go to their place for dinner in the first place! I'm not eating anything Shiro cooked! Are you nuts?"

"Ok, to be fair- Shiro can barbeque pretty well." Lance caught his hand as they walked and Keith nearly forgot what he was saying. He was **not** used to this kind of casual intimacy with Lance yet.

"Barbeque isn't cooking, though," Lance countered, which pulled Keith's attention back to the conversation. "Not really. There's no, like seasoning, or recipe. I'd eat something that Shiro barbequed... I think… maybe... I'd have to see it first."

They continued to chat amiably as they made their way to dinner. Tengrill and Lo'Kasil joined in once they started talking about their favorite meals. Keith was surprised to discover that he and Tengrill had the same favorite Galran dish- a spicy meatball dish served with a traditional flatbread made with grains native to Daibazaal. Lo'Kasil bragged about the Gengen pie that his mate Churrla made on special occasions. Lance waxed poetic about garlic knots, pasta, and arroz congri.

With all that talk of food, by the time they reached the common dining area, Keith was famished. Long, low tables were arranged in two semi-circles and little seats that were essentially inverted baskets surrounded the tables. The clearing itself was circular, paved with smooth, flat stones that looked like seaglass and glowed slightly. As they walked, the stones hummed softly, reminding him of some kind of pan flute.

They were greeted by the eldest daughter of the Royal Family, who they had met when they arrived. She gushed over their appearance and sang the praises of the artists that had done their make-up. It was only then that Keith found out that the triangle pattern was something that each Palik'Ta'Enpar had tattooed into their skin when they were 'venturing age'. Apparently, prior to that, their young never left the safety of their home, and never met anyone outside of their immediate family.

He kept quiet, for the most part, letting Lance do the majority of the talking. Winla, the Princess, was pretty friendly, and seemed happy to answer any questions they had, but somehow Lance managed to ask her a million and one things without it feeling like an interrogation or an interview. Keith watched in something close to awe as Lance chatted and charmed until everyone, including Lo'Kasil and Tengrill, were relaxed and in a good mood. Keith had no idea how he did that. He even made a joke about the terrorist's threats that was genuinely funny!

They were introduced to all of the various guests, which meant that Keith had to let go of Lance's hand to do the traditional Palik'Ta'Enpar double-handshake- which was really more of a simple forearm-clasp, with the arms forming an x, than an actual handshake. After the third introduction the names all started to blur together, so Keith was more than a little relieved when they were shown their seats.

Once everyone was settled, Lance gave his knee a little squeeze and smiled at him, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "I love that they eat together as a community here. Reminds me of church potlucks."

"Yeah, it's nice," he answered, even though he wasn't exactly a fan of them eating out in the open like this with those threats hanging over them.

Soothing music began, and several Palik'Ta'Enpar arrived, carrying large bowls that were placed on the tables at intervals of two or three people. The brown bowls were piled high with crispy little cups about the size of a shot glass, and the pale blue ones were filled with thick, steaming soup. Keith watched as Winla took a little cup thing from the brown bowl and scooped up the soup, popping the entire thing into her mouth.

Terrified he was going to screw up somehow- break or drop the little cup, get his fingers in the soup, spill his food over himself, gag on the unfamiliar food, God there were so many ways he could screw this up!- Keith nervously followed her example. He didn't relax until he closed his mouth around the food and got a taste. It was delicious! For some reason he'd been expecting it to taste like a curry, but it didn't at all. There was a kind of mushroomy flavor, a hint of spiciness, something that reminded him a little of rosemary (Hunk would be so proud that he identified that!), but overall, it didn't taste like anything he'd ever eaten before. It was a whole new kind of delicious. He smiled, an odd tickle working its way through his skin.

"You look so relieved," chuckled the Palik'Ta'Enpar man sitting beside him, "were you concerned we would poison you?"

"What? No! No, of course not!" He shook his head, "I was worried I would commit some kind of awful faux pas and offend everyone." Wait- why had he said that?

"Ahh, I see," the man smiled down at him. He wasn't as tall as most of their hosts, and neither was the woman sitting beside Lance. Keith suspected that they'd been seated in this order to minimize the awkwardness of the height differences. "I am Vanzir and I must confess that I am absolutely terrible with names. Are you Keith or are you Lance?"

"I'm Keith. It's nice to meet you… again, I guess, Vanzir." He grinned, taking another bite of food.

"I am honored to make your acquaintance for the second time," Vanzir replied, "if it isn't… a faux pas, as you phrased it… I would love to hear how you met your mate."

"My mate? Oh! Yes… you mean Lance- we usually use the term boyfriend." He shifted in his seat- it was very odd to feel the shifting air in so many places while fully clothed. "We… uh… we were actually students together when we were young."

"Ahhh, first loves- there is nothing quite like them," Vanzir nodded, getting food for himself.

"Oh no, we were not first loves. We competed to get the best grades, to be the better pilot. We barely knew one another." Lance's first love had been Allura. Keith's had been… oh. Wow. Lance. He'd crushed on people before that, but never anything serious, and the few dates he'd been on were barely memorable. Likewise for the occasional hook-up or blind date he'd gone on, or the couple of not-that-serious boyfriends since the Lions had left. He'd cared about people, sure, but no one had ever claimed his heart like Lance had.

"And yet- here you are…"

"Yeah- but that came later." He paused, reflecting on the winding and sometimes painful path that had led them here as he ate another scoopful of soup. "Working together as Voltron made us teammates, and then friends."

"I see- are you not lovers, then? Do I misunderstand your status? Are human customs different? You are in love with him, yes?"

Keith blinked, he hadn't really expected to be asked that quite so bluntly. Still, they were here specifically because they were on their way to officially declare that they intended to marry. "Yes, I'm in love with him. Very much so." He felt his cheeks burning and was grateful that the make-up obscured the blush. "You aren't misunderstanding the situation. You asked how we met… but it took us a long time to… figure things out."

"Is that common for humans? We Palik'Ta'Enpar most often recognize our mates the first time we look into their eyes."

"I think it is pretty common for humans to fall in love with a friend." He hadn't really given much thought to it before tonight, to be honest. "I definitely didn't recognize Lance as my… uh… mate the first time we looked into each other's eyes. If you'd asked me then, I probably would have said we'd never get along, let alone… all this," he made a vague gesture.

"So, when _did_ you know that your hearts matched?" Vanzir asked, leaning on one elbow to close some of the distance between their heights.

"Ohhh… what a nice way to phrase it," he sighed, a smile tugging at his lips. He took a breath, this was exactly what they'd talked about back on Thayserix. They'd decided on a little script that was close to the truth, vague, and easy to remember. So, he had no idea why he opened his mouth and said, "I was lost, with my mother, in the Quantum Abyss. It was two deca-phoebs for us, but only a couple of phoebs here in normal space. That's when I knew- when I was lost and thought I'd never see him again."

Vanzir sighed, "like the story of Ornabal and Freelilyal! Kept apart by the whims of the universe, then reunited with a declaration of love."

Keith laughed, despite his confusion on why he'd answered the way he did, "not quite, no declarations of love at that point."

"This is not at all the conversation I was expecting when I asked you how you met your mate," Vanzir said, shaking his head at Keith.

"Trust me," Keith chuckled, "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Keith?" Lance's hand settled on the small of his back. The fabric was thin enough that he could feel the heat of the touch even through the folds of material in the low-hanging scoop-back. "You're not... uh… eating," he licked his lips and smiled, "umm.. are you… um… feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Keith answered, smiling back, "just a little confused about why I am so chatty." He froze. Why had he said that? Something was definitely off. Tengrill and Lo'Kasil seemed fine, but Lance kept blinking very slowly, like he was having trouble focusing.

"Your eyes," Lance leaned closer, his face scrunching up in concentration, "don'look… right.. You sure you're okay?"

"Ummm…" He went quiet, paying attention to how he felt beneath the nerves and the stress about this whole 'celebrity couple' thing. "I think… I might have a buzz?"

Lance patted his thigh and turned away to speak to the woman beside him. "They think," Lance said when he turned back to him, his rarely-heard accent leaking out and changing the pitch and cadence of his voice, "it might be… the.. Uhhh… los champiñones…" he snapped his fingers, "los champiñones, los champiñones… umm.. The mushrooms! Yes, the mushrooms in the soup… never had humans here before."

"Are _you_ alright?" he asked, starting to worry.

"Mmhmm… ate more than you is'all," he nodded.

"Should we… stop?" It was very hard to hang on to the concern that whispered through his mind. Lance just blinked at him, smiling sweetly. "Tengrill? Lo'Kasil?"

Tengrill moved to crouch down beside him, "we've analyzed the food, it's perfectly safe. The fungi contain a fast acting, short lived, mild intoxicant that is similar to some medications in our database from Earth. Safer than alcohol. Apologies for not mentioning it in advance."

"It's fine," Keith answered, "as long as there's no danger, don't worry about it. It's really pleasant actually."

"Babe," Lance giggled, "remember that kids' story about the stone soup? Is'like that! But different."

"How is this like a story about getting people to share?" Keith asked, shaking his head at Lance.

"Stone soup- get it? Soup that makes you stoned!"

"Oh my God, you doofus," he chuckled, "maybe take a breather from the soup? For a little while?"

"Mmmhmm… probably a good idea," he nodded, lacing their fingers together under the table, "don't wanna cause an incident."

Lance looked so happy and relaxed that it was hard for Keith to match it up with the man who had agreed to come on this trip with him in the first place. Had that really been less than two movements ago? So much had changed, so fast. Love swelled in his chest and he ran his thumb over Lance's skin. "You're not going to cause an incident," he said softly, "you're too good at this kind of thing. So, just enjoy yourself, okay?"

He hummed softly and then nodded, "yeah, okay. You, too, though- kay?"

"I always enjoy myself with you, Lance."

Vanzir sighed beside him. "I never tire of seeing new lovers," he looked like he wanted to pat Keith on the head, his smile was so indulgent. "What was this children's story you were discussing? It sounds so charming."

* * *

The rest of the night flew by in a pleasant haze. After the festivities died down, Tengrill and Lo'Kasil patiently herded them back to their little cottage thing with hardly any laughter at all, which Keith was counting as a win. He felt like he'd had one glass of wine too many- not completely drunk, but solidly tipsy and in that lovely mood where everything was both interesting and delightful. Mostly Lance. Lance was endlessly interesting and utterly delightful.

The way he'd pulled Keith into his arms and laughingly started to dance because the seaglass paving stones 'made their own music!' was adorable. The look in his eyes when he told the story of how Keith had become the Red Paladin was beyond charming. He had to have won over any guests who might have had the same concerns that the threats had referenced. There was no way that anyone could have been in his company tonight and not seen how genuine and kind and good Lance was. If Keith hadn't already been in love with him when the evening started, he definitely would have been by the time he leaned against the door to their cottage to close it.

"Baaaaabe," Lance purred, "guess what?"

"What?" he replied.

"Dinner's done- that means we get to wash this stuff off our faces!" He grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes, "race'ya!"

Thankfully, the paint washed away easily, and didn't stain their skin. Keith didn't even want to think about how long they spent standing in the bathroom scrubbing at their faces with the slightly coarse towels to alleviate vargas worth of itchiness. It was amazing how good it felt for his face to simply not itch after an entire night of being unable to scratch.

"Aww, your skin is all red," cooed Lance, pressing the back of his hands to Keith's skin to soothe it. "Mine probably is too, huh?"

"Lil'bit," he answered, settling his hands on Lance's narrow hips and tugging his boyfriend closer, "s'kinda cute though."

"You're cute," countered Lance, making him laugh.

"You're drunk… or high… whatever."

"So're you," he leaned in to press a sweet little kiss to Keith's lips. "Tonight was fun."

"It really was," he smiled and Lance moved his hands to loop around his neck, "you are amazing."

"You keep saying that. I mean, don't stop because I love hearing it, but you say it a lot, Mullet."

"You keep amazing me," he answered, toying with the little copper chains, "I'd be so lost right now without your people skills."

"It's nothing."

"It's **not**," he insisted, even with a fuzzy head he didn't like how Lance did that, "you think it is because you are so good at it, but it is important and it is hard. S'like… how Hunk thinks deboning a fish is easy because he's good at it, but no one else does. Stop acting like your talents don't matter. Like you don't matter. They do. **You** do."

"Deboning fish? That's what you came up with?"

"Yeah? What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, laughing. The marks on his cheeks glowed softly, and he looked happy. Just… so happy.

"God, I'm so in love with you," Keith sighed, the words spilling out of his mouth before he was really aware of it. They'd talked _around_ it- talking about 'their love story' and deciding on what to say in interviews, but neither had said it so clearly before.

"Keith?" Lance went still, "that's… I… I'm in love with you, too. So, so, so in love with you."

Heart in his throat, Keith kissed Lance with every scrap of love that thrummed in his veins. His hands slid around to Lance's back, one tracing up his spine, holding him close as he took his time with the kiss. Lance sighed, sinking one hand into Keith's hair. Even with his buzzing head, it felt important.

When they pulled back, Keith felt like he was lit up from the inside, giddy joy humming in his chest. Lance was smiling so big that Keith didn't even notice the tears on his cheeks for a solid dobosh. "Hey," his thumb wiped away a tear, "happy tears?"

"Umm… just… a lot… I think." He wiped the other cheek, "a lot and… emotional drunk… and…" He shook his head, his smile returning, "you told me you were in love with me for the first time in the can, Samurai… was that the plan, orrrr?"

"What? Oh God," he glanced around, realizing that Lance was right. "Can I blame the weird trippy soup? I'm sorry, Lance… really…"

"Stop. Stop- I'm just teasing," catching Keith's face between his hands and meeting his eyes, he laughed the sound soothing Keith's rattled nerves, "all I care about is that you meant it."

"I meant it," he promised, "I definitely meant it."

"Me, too… and… that's a lot… for me," he said shakily, "it's been so long since…"

"Oh." He took a breath, trying to be whatever Lance needed him to be in the moment, because he could tell this was a big deal, but he didn't know how to react. He didn't know how to make this better. How to make it less of a reminder of what Lance had lost. How to not be disappointed or jealous that he'd just heard Lance say that he was in love with him and now they were going to be talking about Allura.

Shame burned through him, eradicating the last of his lingering buzz. Allura had been his friend, his teammate. She'd been a truly good person. Someone he admired. Someone he loved like family. One of a very few people in his entire life that he'd genuinely considered a **friend**. She'd been there for Lance when Keith had been running from his feelings, and from whatever fledgling connection they'd been forging. She'd seen how amazing Lance was. She'd loved him. He'd loved her. Keith had felt the edges of it whenever they'd formed Voltron. Even though it had hurt him to see them together when he was still grappling with the reality that he loved Lance, he'd wanted them to be happy. They deserved to be happy. They should have had years together. They should have had the chance to enjoy one another. They'd been robbed of that.

He knew all that. **Believed** all of it… but something sour and painful twisted in his gut. And he hated himself for it.

"Keith?"

He mustered a smile, because Lance deserved better than his pettiness. "It's not the same, I know… but it's a lot for me, too."

"It's not that different," Lance said, surprising him. "You've lost people you loved. You know how… scary… it is to let yourself get close again. For you, it's your Mom, your Dad… Shiro… Shiro again…" A wry smile crooked his lip up, "geez, he's really lacking in self-preservation, isn't he?"

"Too heroic for his own good," he answered, "but that's not what I meant. It's a lot for me for different reasons than you. That's okay."

Lance's smile changed, he dragged his thumb over the scar on Keith's face, "It was weird not to see this all night. Made you look so much younger. I kinda missed it."

"You missed my scar?" Apparently, they _weren't_ going to talk about Allura.

"Mmhmm," he nodded, "I don't even really think of it as a scar… it's so much like Krolia's markings… I just kind of see it as part of you. Like your eyes, or the way you turn into a complete sap with Kosmo."

"I do not- he's just the best boy!"

"You don't have to convince me," Lance assured him, "I'm a big Kosmo fan! He's the best… no… the _second best_ nap buddy- your growling puts you in first."

"Mmm… because I'm better than a white noise machine," he said dryly, shaking his head as Lance dragged him out of the bathroom.

"You are so much better than a white noise machine," purred Lance, turning in his arms so he could press little kisses to Keith's throat as they made their way through the little sitting room-slash-kitchenette to the bedroom.

Keith fought to keep his attention on the path they were taking through the unfamiliar room, not wanting to trip over something and ruin the moment, but somehow, even the tiniest contact from Lance made him go haywire. Each touch of his lips to Keith's skin felt like an ignition point and within ticks he was ablaze. Making a low, rumbling growl he'd never heard before, he wrapped his arms around Lance and lifted him.

"Woah," Lance breathed, wrapping his legs around Keith's hips. "Hot, Samurai… seriously fucking hot!"

"Walking too slow," he explained roughly, his head dipping down to nuzzle at the curve of tempting muscle that bridged Lance's throat and shoulder. He growled again, drowning in the scent of Lance's skin. His hands relocated themselves, ducking under the gaping fabric of the alien garment to grasp two strong thighs and hold Lance exactly where he was. "Bedtime."

"I agree completely," replied Lance.

Somehow, Keith could feel the smile on Lance's face. He'd thought Lance smelled too good in the Houston on the way to Thayserix? Sure, his scent had been infuriatingly distracting, but it was nothing compared to now. Now Keith knew how Lance's scent shifted as he got turned on. He was learning to read him with his nose- which was kind of weird, he admitted, but also felt so natural and effortlessly right that it settled something that had always jangled uncomfortably deep in his soul.

Another growl rumbled through him and he let himself kiss that fragrant, tantalizing skin. Lance whimpered his name when his teeth closed, ever so gently, over the muscle, and Keith was rewarded with a bloom of arousal hitting his nose and long, eager fingers burrowing into his hair, clenching and twisting roughly to hold him exactly where he was. The little cottage thing was small. Cozy. Barely big enough for two people not to feel crowded, and Keith was glad for that, because it meant that it took fewer steps to get to the bed- which was exactly where he needed to be... like, yesterday.

He tore his attention away from Lance's skin just long enough to nudge the door open with his foot and cross the short distance to the bed. They sank into the bedding together, and Lance laughed when the mattress kind of… bobbed. "Oh my God! It's a waterbed!"

"A what?" He vaguely remembered hearing something about waterbeds when he was a kid, but between the haze of desire and the vaguely unsettled feeling of having his bed move around beneath him, the memory was eluding him.

"A water bed," Lance repeated, "the mattress is like, a really sturdy water balloon in a frame. They're supposed to be really comfy."

"Comfy," he echoed, rolling away from Lance and freezing as the bed sloshed and bobbed again.

"Keith?" Lance sat up- which sent a whole new surge of jello-like jiggling through the bed. "Are you okay?"

"It keeps… _moving_," he hissed, trying to stay as still as possible.

"Keith? Holy crap- you look like a terrified cat! I think your _hair_ is puffing up!"

"Make it stop moving!" Panic was starting to make its way through him. Which was ridiculous! It was a bed! There was no danger here! Just a bed and his very hot boyfriend who was one hundred percent about to have sex with him… on this weird jello mold be- nope! Nuh-uh! Not happening! "Lance- I don't like this! Make it stop!"

"Woah!" Lance's laughter died in his throat, "oh shit! You are really freaked out! Okay- okay…. I… ummm… I can't make it stop, baby. We just… uh… Let's just get you off of this thing, okay?"

* * *

Removing themselves from the waterbed had not been a fun experience for Keith. Every time either of them moved, it sent the whole mattress sloshing again and the more that happened the more freaked out Keith got. So it had become a long, very UNsexy procedure of Lance moving slightly, Keith freaking out, and both freezing until the bed had stopped rippling, which was repeated over and over until Lance finally was able to pull Keith off of the mattress completely.

Keith felt bad, because Lance had seemed to be kind of excited about the whole waterbed thing, and his irrational reaction meant that they had opted to sleep in the sitting room. "It really is fine with me if you take the bed," Keith insisted for probably the thirtieth time as Lance entered the sitting room with his arms loaded down in bedding.

"Yeah, well, it's not fine with me so I'm not going to," Lance replied, dumping the blankets and pillows onto the barren frame of the couch. He helped Keith push the missing cushions into something that would function as a bed for the night. "I'm sleeping next to you and that's the end of the discussion- we can't sleep in the same bed on the Houston and I miss it."

He went still, turning to look at Lance properly. Still dressed in the silky grey thing from dinner, hair still sticking out at odd angles from Keith's fingers prior to the whole 'water bed' mess, Lance was regarding the haphazard pile of pillows with a critical eye. There was a little line creasing his brow, the thin, expressive eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he tapped at his pursed lips with his finger. "I wish we had… like… some rope…" Lance mused and Keith's heart stopped in his chest.

"What?!" He squeaked, his mind veering far, far away from the current situation.

"So we could tie the cushions together… or like… make a kinda… belt-thing? To keep them from sliding apart during the night… you know what I mea-Keith? Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Yep," he wheezed, nodding like a bobble-head, "yeah, I'm fine. Fine… Uhhh… what if we… umm… put the pillows against the wall, and like flipped the couches over to make kind of a frame?"

"That could work! Nice thinking, babe!" Lance flashed him a smile that he felt all the way down to his toes and immediately grabbed a couple of cushions off the floor and kicked a third toward the wall like he was at soccer camp.

"Do you really?" Keith asked, tossing pillows across the room, "miss it, I mean…"

"What?" Lance glanced over at him, distracted. "Oh! The Houston thing? Yeah." His smile went soft, and a light blush dusted over his features. Keith had never thought blushing was cute until this trip, but now it made something near his heart tingle. "I love sleeping beside you."

"Best white noise machine ever," Keith guessed, smiling back.

Lance's blush got brighter and he cleared his throat, "yeah. Exactly. Plus… you know… morning sex."

"Lance!" He tossed a pillow at his boyfriend's head, laughing.

By the time the pillow fight ended, one of Keith's shoulder clasps had come undone, and there was a small tear in the ankle of Lance's clothes where the little copper chain had ripped out. They were winded and flushed, but smiling from ear to ear and finally managed to make a bed for themselves on the floor. Keith didn't think it would ever cease to surprise him how Lance always managed to inject some genuine, innocent, playful fun into mundane tasks. When he'd been younger, Keith hadn't appreciated what a gift and blessing that was.

They'd been kids, carrying the weight of the universe on their shoulders and the stakes had been so high. Even Allura and Shiro had been too young and unprepared for having so much responsibility. Just a bunch of kids, hardly any back-up, virtually no training, learning on the job in giant magical robots fighting to save everything. They'd done it. They'd managed to succeed. There were losses that still hurt, and scars that still made themselves known, but the surviving members of Voltron were mostly okay… and Keith knew, had known for years, that a big part of that was because of Lance and his knack for reminding them that joy was still a thing that existed and was attainable, even if it was just for a few doboshes at a time. They all owed him so much, and he really didn't think that Lance understood that.

"What?" Lance asked, head cocking to one side, "what's with the face?"

"I just…" He sighed, he wasn't good enough with words to convey everything he was feeling and have it make sense. "I love you. I'm… so lucky that I met you."

"Yeah, you are," Lance answered, still in a playful mood, "if you hadn't met me, you might still be wearing fingerless gloves and half a jacket and thinking that those were acceptable fashion choices! Yikes." He bumped their heads together gently, his smile going tender, and kissed him, short and sweet. "I feel the same way about you, Cutie."

"Don't call me cutie," he answered, letting out a happy sigh. "Time to sleep?"

"Once I'm done with my bedtime routine, yeah. You get comfy, I'll be back in a jiffy."

"I need to brush my teeth, dumbass," he teased, following behind Lance, "you aren't the only one with a bedtime routine- yours just takes like, a varga." He enjoyed bugging Lance about it, but honestly he thought the bedtime routine was adorable. He liked the small domesticity of getting ready for bed together, chit chatting about nothing while they shifted gears at the end of the day. It was nice. Comfortable. Safe. It felt like home, and his life had been one that taught him to cherish home wherever and whenever he found it.

Still, he was done long before Lance and after the third yawn, Lance shooed him out of the bathroom to 'go to bed already.' The furniture cushions were surprisingly comfortable and somehow, he hadn't noticed that Lance had grabbed the Grekagan angora blanket he'd fallen in love with from the Houston when they'd arrived. But, obviously he had, because it was on their little improvised bed. He smiled, loving the little thoughtful gestures that Lance didn't seem to realize were rare for most people.

He was barely awake when Lance crawled under the blankets and curled up around Keith like he was a body pillow, his head settling on Keith's chest, directly over his heart. "Mmmm," Keith managed, wrapping his arms around Lance, "night."

Lance sighed, nuzzling his chest, getting comfortable, and Keith didn't even mind the little prickly scratch of whiskers against his skin. "Love you," Lance breathed, going still.

He smiled and mumbled something that was supposed to return the sentiment, but clearly didn't, because Lance started laughing and the sound and motion jostled Keith out of his drowsy haze to discover that Lance had propped himself up on one elbow and was grinning at him, the marks on his cheeks glowing softly. "I always figured you for a night owl," Lance said, shaking his head, "but you are like a little kid up past his bedtime."

He yawned, squeaking slightly on the end of it, "I used to be… but then Shiro started dragging me out for five am jogs when I was at the Garrison and I just got into the habit of working out really early in the day. It works for me- the whole 'early to bed, early to rise' thing... 'specially now that I have a farmer for a boyfriend. You probably wouldn't need so many naps if you went to bed at a sensible time, you know."

"Backwards," teased Lance, "I stay up late so I can have wonderful naps during the day. All about priorities, babe."

"You're ridiculous!"

"You love ridiculous," he pointed out.

"I do."

"I know," Lance took a deep breath and let it out, "okay- confession time. The growling in your sleep thing?"

"Yeah?" What the hell kind of confession could Lance have about **that**? Unless… did he actually hate it as much as he claimed Veronica did?

"I mentioned that I knew it was a Galra thing," he said, fidgeting slightly, "because of Acxa and my sister… but… the first time I mentioned it… things weren't- we weren't… like this. It's just, you were so skittish and I was trying to get you to chill out a bit… to relax. So, I cracked a joke and then I kind of realized what I'd said and you were asking me about it and…" He trailed off, making a face.

"I'm confused- does it keep you awake or something?"

"No! No, I love it. I really do. But… uh… part of that… is… umm…" Cheeks blazing, he took another deep breath and cringed, "I know what it really is… the purr. I know what it means… I've known for years. I knew the first time I heard it, that first night on the Houston. I never should have played it off like I was clueless! I'm sorry, I just… I knew what it meant and I was trying to kind of… let you know it was okay, it wasn't one-sided… Acxa told me a whole bunch about… Galra… how they know when someone is interested, how they… court, I guess... the like, instinctive stuff... but… this is such a big deal for me, Keith… I wanted to- be bold, fearless… like I used to be. But… I'm not that kid anymore and I could only put myself out there so much… I needed you to… to choose to do the same thing and-"

Keith kissed him. He pulled him back into his arms, taking his time with the kiss. He cradled Lance's face, and stroked his hand down that strong back, and tangled their legs together. He kissed him until he felt the nervous tension leave Lance's frame, until he was warm and pliant in his arms, returning the slow, lazy kiss with the same kind of languid ease. Only when he was sure that Lance felt safe and comfortable in his embrace did he lift his head. "We're a mess," he said smiling a little, "or… when we are apart we are, anyway. I thought I was going nuts. You were driving me nuts. I kept telling myself 'Lance is just flirty, he doesn't mean anything' to keep from losing it. But now, I don't care about any of that stuff. Okay? I'm not mad or whatever about the whole growl or purr thing… I am going to have a conversation with Acxa though, because she could have said something and made life easier for us… but you and me? We're good. Better than good. Okay?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "okay. Good. That's good. Don't be too hard on her… she was in an awkward spot."

"Mmmhmm," he conceded, "go to sleep, Hot Shot." He could feel the smile as Lance settled back against his chest.

"Coupla'interviews t'morrow," Lance mumbled, "still think we need a cutesy couple-name…"

* * *

Sometimes, having a sensitive nose was a blessing- trying to navigate a smoke-filled room was not one of those times.

He'd stirred slightly because the warm body that was supposed to be curled around him wasn't. Lance had left the bed for some reason and that was enough to wake him. His eyes adjusted to the low light easily. No sign of Lance in the sitting room and the door to the bathroom was standing open, so he'd wrapped the blanket around his hips and climbed over the inverted couch to make sure everything was okay.

He hadn't gotten more than a few feet before he felt a vaguely familiar tremor in the floor and the world went white as a wall of heat slammed into him and knocked him on his ass. A dull roar filled his ears and he couldn't tell if it was an actual sound, or just the rush of his own blood. He blinked, shaking his head to try to get a better sense of what was going on.

When his vision cleared, he was treated to the image of blue flames rushing along the ceiling and his heart clenched in his chest. "LANCE!" he screamed, scrambling up off the floor. Smoke and flames were pouring out of the ruined door to the bedroom like liquid, pooling on the wooden floor and rapidly filling the small cottage. Fighting to stay calm, he kept close to the floor and hurried to the bathroom, hoping and praying that that's where Lance was. It was on the opposite side of the cottage from the bedroom that now appeared to be an utter inferno.

He was shocked at how fast the smoke accumulated, even crouching, he couldn't seem to stay below it. His eyes burned, and it felt like acid was being poured into his nose with every breath. The bathroom was empty, but he was able to grab the still-wet cloth that Lance had used to wash his face before bed and cover his mouth and nose before he crawled back out into the sitting room.

Still no sign of Lance. The only other option was the tiny alcove at the back of the room that served as a little kitchenette because he refused to even consider that Lance had been in the bedroom. He had no reason to be, and so he wasn't. It was that simple. He got about three feet into the room before a curved support beam cracked and the path to the kitchenette was smoldering, flaming rubble. **"LANCE!"** He screamed again, trying to get his bearings. The ceiling falling in had made the room unrecognizable and panic had started to eat away at his awareness. **"LANCE!"**

**"KEITH!"** he heard his name about half a tick before a large, strong hand grabbed his shoulder and he was yanked backwards. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even have the chance to fight. One tick he was surrounded by fire and smoke and the next he was sitting on the ground watching the cottage cave in on itself as a mask was slapped on his face and tall figures moved around- distorted and bizarre in the shifting illumination that backlit them and the smoke that was still stinging his eyes.

**"MULLET!"** He'd never been happier to hear that stupid nickname and the instant that registered in his brain, he had a lapful of Lance McClain. "Oh my God, you're okay! You're okay!" Lance sobbed, pushing his hair back away from his face and raining kisses over his forehead, since the mask covered pretty much everything else. "It happened so fast… Holy shit! Don't scare me like that, Cutie!"

"What?" he croaked, triggering a bout of coughing. Lance clambored off his lap and rubbed his back until the coughing passed.

"There was a threat. Tengrill came to get us. I stepped out of the cottage for like… a minute and then… that!"

He was okay. Lance was okay. That was the important thing at the moment. "Tengrill?" he said carefully, looking around, trying to spot the Blade.

"Tengrill is okay. Everyone's fine. We're all fine," Lance repeated and Keith wasn't sure who he was trying to reassure, but he figured that didn't matter much, because they both could use the comfort.

Lo'Kasil appeared, crouching beside them, "rest your throat, you inhaled smoke, and there was some kind of accelerant used, so we don't know what that might have done. We are securing a medical facility now and then we are going to get you checked out… and… uhhh… find you both some clothes."

He nodded, arms tightening around Lance, who, he was just now realising, was also dressed in a blanket. Downside of them sleeping naked? If there's a fire you don't have clothes. Upside of them sleeping naked? Naked Lance. Yeah, he was finding it difficult to feel bad about the whole blankets thing.

"This was the threat, wasn't it?" Lance asked, showing far more focus than Keith was able to muster up.

"I think it is safe to say yes," Lo'Kasil said with a nod, "I've seen this kind of fire before. My guess is there was a bomb hidden in the bed chamber. It's remarkable you are both unhurt. Especially you, Keith."

Lance curled into his shoulder, a little tremor rolling through him and Keith felt rage take hold deep in his gut. Someone had tried to hurt them. He had been prepared for that. But this was different. They'd faced a lot together, back in the war. This wasn't the war, though. Someone had tried to hurt Lance specifically because they cared about each other. That was… new, and awful… and Lance was scared and it made Keith want to… rip the universe apart until he found the person that did this to the man he loved and then make them hurt. Instinctively, he tucked his nose against Lance's cheek, trying to draw in some of the small comfort that was the scent of Lance's skin, but all he got was char and smoke and fear... and then panic started to sink its claws into him again.

They could have been killed! Lance could have been killed! For what? Because he loved Keith? Because some violent assholes hated the peace they were forging in the Universe so much that one couple, in the public eye, might represent it to other people. Might give some people some hope. Might make it seem like actual peace might stick around.

He never should have asked Lance to come with him on this trip. This was all his fault. Lance wanted a quiet life- not this media circus insanity. Not terrorists and politics and security details and… God… bombs in their bedroom!

"Hey," Lance's voice was soft, soothing, "pretty sure growling like that counts as not resting your throat, Cutie. You're okay. We're okay. No one was hurt." He tipped Keith's face up until he could see those blue eyes, full of concern, "no one was hurt. That's what matters."

After that, word came that the medical facility was secure, and they were both carried off to get checked out. Concerns about possible toxicity in the smoke from the accelerant and alien building materials meant that both Lance and Keith were given some kind of medication through an iv that knocked them both out for a bit and when Keith woke up again, he heard very familiar voices outside his door. He tried to sit up, ready to tell everyone he was awake when he heard a soft whine and felt soft fur and a wet nose butt up against his hand. "Kosmo!" He forgot all about the people outside and turned his attention to his wolf, "Heyyy bud!" Rolling onto his side, he hugged the massive animal, burying his face in warm fur and scritching him behind the ears. "Am I glad to see you!"

"He hasn't left your side since we arrived," Krolia said from the doorway, her voice uncharacteristically soft. Before Keith could even lift his head to reply, he felt the dip in the mattress and the strong arms of his mother wrapping around both of them. "Of course you'd wake in the ten ticks I stepped away."

"You're here," he whispered, something unclenching in his chest as the comforting scent of Krolia's embrace filling his nose and somehow overpowering the awful lingering smell of the fire and smoke.

"Of course, I am," she cooed, smoothing his hair back from his face, "we were already en route to meet up with you when we got the report." Shifting on the bed, she kissed his forehead, "Kolivan seems to think you pilot like I do. He kept muttering about it once I took the helm."

Keith laughed, having been on the receiving end of Kolivan's muttering about his own reckless piloting. "I'm so glad you are here. Where's Lance?"

"He's fine," Krolia insisted, "he woke not too long ago, and I'm sure your room is about to be flooded with visitors once he finds out you're awake."

"Flooded? What? Who else is here?"

"You'll see," she smiled gently, finally releasing the hug, "you are loved, kitling."

"She would have forgiven you for jumping the queue eventually, you didn't have to go get yourself blown up for sympathy. Even Veronica doesn't hold grudges that long, Paladin."

"Acxa?" He leaned around his mother to see another member of his little make-shift, patchwork family. "When did you get here? How long was I out?"

"Better part of a quintant," Krolia said softly, moving to one of the low seats that lined the wall opposite the bed. "Your hosts were very insistent that you get a thorough treatment for potential toxic exposure. They are quite invested in ensuring that no blame falls on them."

"Do we know what happened yet?"

"We do, and you'll be fully briefed," Acxa grabbed his hand and gave him a one-armed hug, tapping his nose playfully as they pulled away. "Once we are on a secure ship, and not a tick before- and before you even start, Lance wasn't able to cajole any information out of us, so you definitely won't be able to."

"Who is here?" he asked again, getting himself situated properly in the bed so he was sitting up. Just that small thing made him feel so much better. He hated seeming weak or sick or helpless.

"Other than the people in this room, Veronica, Kolivan, Coran, Romy, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk. You almost had the entire McClain clan to contend with- so, make sure you thank Veronica for stomping out that spark before it caught- uh… sorry, probably should avoid that expression for a while."

"Why so many people? The ceremony is supposed to be pretty small… Oh! Hey Pidge."

"'Oh! Hey Pidge,' he says… like we just bumped into each other running errands," Pidge rolled her eyes and climbed up onto the bed beside him, "you know- it was bad enough when Lance was the only one getting himself blown up. You're not supposed to pick that up from him, you know."

"I didn't get blown up," he insisted, hugging Pidge, "there was just a fire…"

"Bullshit, I've seen the data." She squeezed him tight. He never seemed to remember properly just how strong she was so he always ended up being surprised when it felt like she was going to crack ribs from hugging him. "Thank God you guys are okay."

"Pidge! Hands off my man!"

"Oh no! Keith!" She clutched the bedding and flattened herself to his chest dramatically. "He caught us in bed together! The scandal!"

"Don't make me throw hands, Pigeon!"

"Pfft! Look at you! You're connected to an iv stand and wearing a nightdress. I could totally take you, farm boy!"

"You keep telling yourself that, Gremlin," Lance snickered, flicking his fingers at Pidge in a shooing motion, "just do it somewhere not in bed with my boyfriend."

Pidge made a show of rolling her eyes before kissing Keith's cheek softly, "so glad you're okay." She slid off the bed with a petulant huff and patted the mattress for Lance, "here you go, drama llama!"

"Llamas are awesome," he pointed out as he walked over, pulling the hovering iv stand along with him. "So, I'm taking that as a compliment. Hiya Cutie."

"Don't call me cutie," Keith answered, unable to wipe the smile off his face, even as more people piled into the room. Each of them managed to either hug him or squeeze his shoulder, which was really sweet but he was worried about Lance, still. "Are you okay, Hot Shot?"

"I'm fine," Lance answered, settling in beside him, "I was outside, remember?"

"Right… it's all kind of a blur."

"That's probably a good thing," Krolia said gently, "at least for now."

"They are going over the Houston with a fine tooth comb right now," Lance said, snuggling close. Keith curled his arm behind Lance's back, the contact helping with his lingering worry. Lance tucked up under his chin easily and he must have showered since he woke because the smell of his still-damp hair barely held any trace of soot or smoke- which helped even more with the worry. "Once it is declared safe, they're gonna move it onto one of the bigger ships for a bit."

"One of the bigger- how many ships are there?"

"Three from Earth, one from New Altea, four from the Blades," Romelle counted off helpfully. "You are going to be very protected."

"This is… too much! You guys! This is insane! All of this because of a typo?!"

Shiro shook his head, "we aren't here because of a typo, Keith. We are here because you and Lance are being threatened and we can't be anywhere else."

"But you guys have other responsibilities you need to-"

"We need to be here," Hunk insisted.

"You should know better than to think any of us would be anywhere but at your side when you are facing an unknown threat like this, Number Four," chided Coran. "We are here to help… and if that further cements the knowledge that our peoples can be more than allies, can once again be true friends, then all the better."

"I think what Coran is trying to say," Pidge cut in, "is pick a fight with one of us and you pick a fight with all of us…"

"And some of us have really good fucking aim," added Veronica, leaning back against Acxa, "and some anger to get out of our systems."

"You guys are the best," Lance laughed, "I can't believe how fast you all got here."

"I might have pulled some strings," Shiro said, his cheeks flushing.

"Which is good, because he was much nicer about it than I was going to be," Veronica smirked.

"Badass," teased Keith, finally starting to wrap his head around the fact that they'd all come to help. He reached out to bury his hand in Kosmo's fur.

"Now," Krolia said, clapping her hands together, "there's still a lot of work to do and we are well over the capacity for visitors. There will be plenty of time for conversation once we are off planet. Come on, let's go." She shooed everyone toward the door but Keith and Lance both still ended up getting hugs, hair musses, or shoulder claps from each and every one of them on their way out. Romelle was the last to go and she clung to him so tightly for so long that he thought his mother might come back to get her.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again," she whispered fiercely, "you're not allowed to get yourself killed. You hear me? I can't lose another brother."

"I'm not going anywhere, Romy," he promised, "not if I can help it."

When she stood, she had tears in her eyes and she was practically oozing determination. "We're going to find the people that tried to hurt you."

He smiled, he wasn't sure they would but it was nice to think that she was so certain. She waved at Lance, clearing her throat and practically ran from the room.

"I have a feeling that Romelle might be genuinely dangerous if she crossed paths with whoever it was that started that fire," Lance whispered, "and here I though my sisters were scary."

"Veronica is terrifying," Keith chuckled, finally snuggling into Lance to the extent that he wanted. Kosmo hopped up onto the bed, curling up by their feet.

"Keith," Lance's voice was playfully chiding, "do you let Kosmo sleep on your bed?"

"Well, I don't give him his own bunk, that would be weird!"

"Oh, my God," Lance smiled up at him for a tick before kissing him. Keith sighed, his arms tightening around Lance and holding him close as they took their time with the kiss.

"I love you," he whispered when they came up for air.

"I love you, too, Cutie."

"Don't call me cutie…"

"Don't do that again," Lance whispered, "I need you to have faith that I can get myself out of danger. Enough faith that you don't put yourself in more danger."

"What?" He brushed Lance's hair back from his forehead.

"You went looking for me," Lance whispered, "I know you did- don't try to tell me different."

"Of course I did. I wasn't about to leave you in a fire, Lance!"

"But I wasn't in the fire… I was out- and you would have kept looking until it was too late. I'm not some damsel in distress that needs rescuing… and you are not expendable."

"Lance…"

"I'm serious, Keith. We have each other's backs. I get that… but don't do that again."

"I'm not cutting my losses and leaving you in danger, Lance. Forget it. I wouldn't do that to a stranger, let alone you. I love you."

"I'm not saying leave me in danger, Keith- I'm saying don't go up against impossible odds…" He sighed in exasperation, "how's this for a guideline- if you'd keep Shiro from doing it, then you don't get to either?"

He huffed in frustration- he didn't like this conversation, at all. That wasn't how he worked. Lance knew that. Lance had known him long enough, had seen him in enough situations to know that he couldn't promise that. There was no way that Keith would be able to leave someone he loved in danger, even if the chances of him being able to save them were tiny. "Lance… what you're asking…"

"Keith, listen- I watched the woman I loved sacrifice herself to save all realities… and… it wrecked me. You know it was bad, but… She saved everything. Everything... and sometimes… I hated her for it… most of the time… I hated myself- for not being enough, for not being the one that could make that sacrifice in her place, for not being able to let go of my pain and hurt enough to appreciate the amazing thing she did… It was bad. I didn't stay away from space because of bad memories, Keith. I… uh…" he petered out, pulling back slightly and dropping his gaze to their entwined legs.

After a few ticks he plucked nervously at the blankets, long fingers pinching and twisting the dull green of the bedding. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the words coming only on the tail end of the exhalation. "I stayed on the farm because… umm... it was safer. For me. I was safer there. I wasn't alone for more than an hour or so at a time… I wasn't put in situations where I could nudge a little further on the scale between brave and reckless. I… didn't trust myself to make good calls, Keith. It would be too easy to get myself killed without it being obvious that that was the goal… and like… most of the time- that really would have been the goal. My head was a mess. I knew it."

Keith knew how it felt to value your own life less than that of the people you loved, or even strangers. He'd always been aware that there might be times where he had to be willing to do that- but what Lance was talking about wasn't that… Lance was talking about looking for an excuse to die and that was a completely different thing. "God… Lance… no…"

"Hey… shhh… it's okay. Really. It was hard and awful, but I knew it was fucked up thinking, and I got help. Good help. I got therapy. I took meds. I went to support groups. I stayed close to home, to people and places that made me feel… more okay. It was hard and it took time, but I got better. I'm better. I've been off my meds for almost three years."

"I had no idea," he cupped Lance's face in his hands, "how did I not know?"

"Because I was better when you were around, so you didn't see it," Lance answered, smiling softly, one of his hands lifting to cover Keith's. "Whenever any of you visited, whenever we all got together, I did better. I was happier, upbeat, hopeful. Not all angry and morose and resentful. I wasn't incapable of feeling good things- it was just that when things went bad, they went really bad, really fast. And… I didn't want you guys to know. I didn't want you to look at me differently, or tell me I was disrespecting Allura's memory. I just… I needed to feel like myself and I couldn't do that if you guys were as worried and careful as my family was."

"It sounds awful," distraught at this new knowledge, he pressed a kiss to Lance's forehead.

"I was sick," Lance whispered, "heartbroken and traumatized… but I got help and I worked hard. Keith, I got better. I'm better. I would never have come with you if I wasn't."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure," he smiled within the frame of Keith's hands, "I promise, if I wasn't healthy, I would never have left Earth in the first place. I've been better for a long time. Just… careful, cautious. All of this… I was being so careful to make sure that I was really ready. To leave Earth. To come back to space. To step back into my life. To… start our love story. All of it. I was so careful, and I was right to wait- because I am so ready for this, for you, for us… for the weird, over the top, dramatic bullshit that follows us around out here. Okay? This is where I am supposed to be. This is where I am happy. You make me happy. I can do this. I need you to believe me."

"I do. I believe you, Lance," Keith whispered, a little bit in awe of him. He'd always known that Lance was brave; strong in a way that Keith wasn't. He wasn't sure that he would have been able to recognize that he needed outside help if he'd been in Lance's shoes. He had a sneaking suspicion that if the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak, things would have gotten really dark and scary and ended up with an intervention and several frayed friendships… or worse.

"Okay, good. So, Keith, please… promise me that if I am in a situation that you would stop Shiro from wading into to save me, you'll stop yourself? I need to know that loving me, being with me is not going to get you killed. Please."

He went quiet, digesting everything Lance had just told him. He chafed at the idea of doing what Lance asked, but it wasn't unreasonable. Lance wasn't trying to say that he'd never need help. He just wanted there to be a line. This far and no farther. "Fine," he muttered, "but, the same goes for you. If you'd stop Shiro from going after me, you can't either."

Lance's face screwed up, "yeah- I get the arguing now. That **really** makes me want to fight you… but… deal."

"We probably shouldn't tell Shiro that he's our reference point for 'stupidly sacrificial', right?"

"I think he most likely knows," chuckled Lance, "but yeah, probably best if we don't say anything."

Keith laughed, holding Lance close; suddenly acutely aware of the possibility that he might never have had the chance to be with him like this if any number of tiny little details had played out differently over the years.

* * *

They ended up doing some press from the hospital room. Specifically, a statement and two different interviews (although they were eerily similar in how they played out) that Lance handled like a trooper while also giving Keith the perfect excuse to stay quiet by repeatedly stressing that the 'only injury was to Keith's voice from smoke'. He didn't mind. Far from it, actually. He was fairly comfortable giving speeches at this point, but interviews were something completely different and he always ended up flustered and stressed that he'd say the wrong thing. Lance, on the other hand, shone like polished copper in the sunlight during an interview.

He praised their hosts for the skill of their emergency services, the high level of medical care they'd received, and the excellent security response. He reminded everyone that, while they were not cowed by the threats and were confident of their continued safety thanks to the excellent people working with them, the people who were making the threats were lingering Zarkon loyalists, many of whom were highly trained military. He stressed that Palik'Ta'Enpar people were not at fault in the slightest for the incident and turned the conversation to a humorous anecdote about sneaking out of the Garrison as a student.

Lance talked about how much he was learning about Galran history from before Zarkon's rule- something Keith had no idea he was doing- and how proud he was to be connected to such a rich culture through his relationship with Keith, squeezing his hand affectionately when he said his name. He mentioned, by name, several Blades that had died protecting civilians over the years and how much he admired them.

He answered questions about Allura and New Altea with a quiet grace and a soft smile and when his voice cracked slightly, Keith took the opportunity to say how much he had admired Allura and valued her friendship; how much all of Voltron had loved her, each in their own way. His voice was shaky from nerves and rough with emotion, which only supported Lance's comments about why Keith was being so quiet. The second interviewer asked Keith what he thought Allura's feelings would be about him and Lance. As he took a tick to gather his thoughts he glanced at Lance and in that instant he knew all the way to his core, what to say. "Allura was someone who faced life bravely and head-on. She took risks and put herself on the line for the well-being of others. She led by example and held herself to a high standard and by doing that, she inspired others to do the same. She loved Lance very much, and I think she'd be really happy to know that Lance is loved that much again, because he deserves that and he deserves happiness, and she'd want that for him."

Lance cooed and kissed him sweetly, turning to the camera and smiling, "I think she'd probably cheer me on for landing the hottest bachelor in the universe, too. She was big on celebrating victories." It was such a surprise that Keith felt his cheeks blaze with a sudden blush and covered his face before he even realised what he was doing- because seriously Lance?! That just made Lance laugh and continue, though. "Awww… he's so cute when he blushes! Look at him, all flustered… I mean, honestly, I am a very lucky guy. Keith is brave and kind and smart… not to mention gorgeous, but most importantly, we understand each other and I hope I make him as happy as he makes me."

That seemed to shift interviewer into general cutesy gossip territory, and questions about how they got together, and other frivolous stuff. Keith didn't understand why anyone would care about any of it, but he deferred to Lance on that… and then, Lance did something that made him cringe. He flashed Keith a smile that he'd long since learned signified something he was** not** going to like and then looked directly into the camera and said, "actually, we can't decide on what our couple name should be, so I posted up a poll and we want everyone to vote! Should we be Klance? Laith? Or McKogane?"

Which was how, vargas later, Keith found himself in a room on the Galra cruiser with his two honorary sisters listening to them hotly debating the merits of each 'shipname' option. To be fair, this was exactly the kind of thing Romelle would eat up… Acxa was the one he was disappointed in. "I don't understand why we would even want a stupid couple nickname," he muttered.

"Because it is charming," insisted Romelle, "and it makes it easy for your fans to talk about you and that increases your popularity."

"I don't **care** about being popular, though," he pointed out. "My relationship with Lance isn't anyone else's business!"

"Tactically, it makes sense to make as many people as possible invested in your relationship's success. When people care about you as an individual, they tend to be more vocally supportive of your actions- which could make a big difference in contested areas and helps to impede the progress of anti-coalition propaganda," Acxa added.

"Easy for you to say. No one is trying to turn you and Veronica into some kind of catchy portmanteau that sounds like floor polish or something!"

"It's Veracxa. It's adorable. And we've been using it for years."

"Yeah! I'm a hardcore Veracxa shipper," Romelle nodded enthusiastically.

Keith groaned, "I was about to complain about sisters… but then I realised that Shiro is just as bad. How did I end up choosing such dorks for my family?"

"Shirtis," Romelle said quietly, "Shiro and Curtis are Shirtis."

"Yup. Of course they are. I'm not even surprised."

Shiro's head poked through the door like he'd been conjured by their conversation, "the briefing is about to start. We just got the last of the forensics we were waiting on."

They shuffled out of the room, Shiro taking the opportunity to give Keith a noogie like he was twelve. He scowled and swatted at Shiro, which left him open to a sneak tickle attack from that damn floating arm. "Shiro!" he yelped, jumping away, "oh, my God, why are you like this?"

"Missed you, kid," he answered, "and you gave us a fright. Thought you could use a little bit of normal."

"That isn't normal! That's just you being a dork, Shiro," he muttered, fighting the urge to smile. As annoying as it was, it was definitely familiar. "Normal people don't go around lumping their name with their husband's and deciding Shirtis is an acceptable thing to answer to!"

"Mmm… for the record- 'Klance' is currently in the lead for that poll," he replied, voice mild, even though Keith could see the shit-eating grin on his face.

"That was all Lance! I didn't even know he was going to do that!"

"Mmmhmm…"

"I think his point was that you shouldn't complain about the juvenile behavior if you are in love with someone who does the same thing."

"Yeah, thanks Acxa, I got that," he answered drily.

"I think I like Laith better than Klance. It's more balanced. Klance is just his name with your initial in front of it. That doesn't seem right."

"I still don't get why we can't just be Keith and Lance, or Lance and Keith. Why do we need a couple nickname?"

"I mean, we could just call you Hot Shot and Cutie," Shiro suggested and Keith came to a complete stop.

"What?"

"Oh, did you think no one noticed that?" One white eyebrow shot up in question, "I mean, Hot Shot has been around for years, but Cutie is new…"

"You…" he took a deep breath, glaring at Shiro, "you… ugh… you know what? Nope. I'm not falling for that. I'm not going to argue about this stupid nickname thing anymore. I'm done. I do not care."

"You got it... Cutie."

"So help me Shiro!" he snapped, pointing a finger in warning.

"I think it is charming," Romelle offered.

"Of all the things I've heard him call you over the years… Cutie is definitely one of the better options… some of the others were rather… explicit…"

"Explicit? Wait… what?!" Keith blinked at Acxa, "you need to explain that!"

"Sorry, I can't do that." She smiled. Shit. She was enjoying this, "it's a 'mutually assured destruction' kind of situation. You are going to have to ask your intended to explain."

"My inten-?" Rubbing his face in irritation, he shook his head. "Lance. Just Lance. Can we please just stick to names?"

"Hey, Cutie!" Lance greeted as he rounded the corner in the hallway with Veronica, and despite his best efforts Keith felt a smile bloom on his face that was sappy enough to trigger a chorus of coos.

"Lance," he replied because that was his freaking name and names are not difficult to use. Keith had had the chance to get cleaned up from the fire and managed to rid of his skin of that weird 'hospital smell' that seemed consistent across every planet he'd ever been to, and they were both wearing Blade jumpsuits. There was another round of completely unnecessary coos as Lance gave him a small, totally innocent and unremarkable little kiss hello that nonetheless made his stomach drop and his heart race and his spine tingle.

"Ready for our first real tactical meeting together in years?" Lance asked, eyes bright as he draped an arm over Keith's shoulders casually and kissed his cheek, like it was something they'd been doing forever. Keith's brain screeched to a stop. He was not prepared for this whole 'being a couple in front of friends and family' thing and now that the relief of seeing Lance unharmed after the fire had been tempered a bit, it was really starting to sink in that there were witnesses to this stuff. Witnesses who were more than willing to use any cutesy stuff as ammo against him. Which was confirmed by the poorly smothered snicker from Romelle. He glared, slipping his arm around Lance's back and letting his nerves settle.

Lance smiled at him and gave him a little squeeze, well-disguised tension letting go in his face. Oh. He wasn't quite as comfortable as he was acting. That was good to know.

"Alright, lovebirds- are you actually going to go into the conference room? Or just stand here looking like a poster for the Marmora Homecoming Court?"

"Oh my God, Veronica! Enough already!" Lance's cheeks reddened and he rolled his eyes, "sorry about her- she's been acting like we're back in middle school since we left orbit!"

"Yeah," he grumbled, "that seems to be going around."

The meeting was pretty straightforward. They went over the evidence from the fire- an incendiary device was discovered among the charred remains of the bed and they concluded that the liquid (which was not water) in the mattress had been contaminated with an accelerant.

"Holy shit," Lance had breathed when that came to light, his hand tightening on Keith's knee under the table as he turned to look at him, eyes wide, "if we hadn't been in the sitting room…"

"But we were," he'd whispered quickly, not wanting to think about just how close they'd come. Beside him his mother had growled low in her chest and demanded to know how someone had gained access to where they were staying and the meeting picked up speed again.

By the time they were done, Keith was feeling much more confident about the entire situation. Subsequent trips to the surface of the planets they were travelling to had been cancelled in favor of staying on board the Marmora ship and all press commitments were changed to transmitted interviews. Everyone was filing out of the room when Kolivan gave him a nod that he knew from long experience meant to stay behind. He tugged at Lance's wrist to relay the message and as the last of the assigned Blades drifted out of the room, Krolia shut the door.

Koliva leaned against the table to mitigate the height difference somewhat and spoke quietly. "We are going forward with the plan we just detailed, but that is primarily as a way to flush out the people behind the threat. In the meantime, stay together, stay on alert, and keep Kosmo with you."

"I want a gun," Lance said, surprising Keith. "No offense to you guys but I don't have a bayard anymore or a luxite blade…"

"But** I** have a blade," he pointed out.

"Which is going to do sweet fuck all for me, babe."

Krolia turned her attention to Lance, "it's been many years since-"

"I know how long it has been," he snapped, "but I've kept up my skills. I do target training with Veronica, kept my certification current. I'm as good a shot as I ever was, and if you think for one insta-" He cut himself off, taking a breath and when he spoke again it was with a calm confidence Keith recognized. "These people almost killed the man I love. So, you guys figure out the plan and we'll defer to your strategic experience. But, I'm going to need a fucking gun, because I will be damned if I lose him becaue somebody else missed a shot I could make. Understood?"

Kolivan looked like he was about to argue, but Krolia put her hand out, resting on his crossed forearm and shook her head once before unholstering her own blaster and handing it to him. "We'll get you something better suited to your skillset, but you can use this for now, Paladin."

"Thank-you, Krolia. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, thanks, Mom." She hugged them both, quickly, and nodded. Keith suspected she was struggling to keep her composure and reached out to squeeze her hand in reassurance.

"So, stick together, eyes peeled, stay close to the teleporting space wolf. Seems simple enough," Lance said, voice upbeat despite the subject matter, "anything else?"

"Be careful of what you say around anyone you don't consider family. The Blades on board are all hand selected, but the fewer people privy to personal details, the better. We are sending out several dummy itineraries to confuse any attempts to gather intel and are ready to change course on a moment's notice. We've got this in hand, but we should be careful to avoid overconfidence. Keeping information compartmentalized is prudent."

"Understood," Keith said with a short nod.

"We **will** protect you," Krolia said, her eyes glowing slightly as she cupped Keith's jaw, "both of you."

"I know that, Mom," he said softly, smiling at her.

"These idiots have no idea what a mistake they made," Lance added, "this is not a family you cross easily. Mess with one of us and we circle the wagons."

Keith snickered and his mother laughed, shaking her head.

"What?" Lance was so adorably confused. Keith exchanged a look with his mother and gave her a little nod.

"Keith's father loved that expression," she explained, her expression soft.

"Oh. Okay," leaning into Keith's side affectionately, he smiled at Krolia, "I am in good company then. It's one of my favorites. Okay, Cutie, we should go find Kosmo, and then Pidge wanted us and Hunk to come by her quarters to play video games and relax… which I think is probably a good plan."

"Don't call me cutie," he said reflexively, even though it hadn't worked so stop Lance yet and he really doubted it ever would. "I'll check in with you later, Mom?"

She nodded, making a little shooing gesture toward the door and he and Lance headed out hand in hand.

"Circle the wagons?" he heard Kolivan ask as they left, the confusion clear in his voice.  
"It's a figure of speech from Earth. I'll explain it before we turn in for the night when we've got some privacy."

"Wait," Lance whispered, "Keith! Did you… wow… niiiiice! Go Krolia! You get it!"

"Oh my God, Lance… don't! That's my **Mom**!"

"Yeah… and Kolivan! I mean, come on here, Keith… dude is a silver fox…. Or uh… a purple cat? I dunno how to translate that into something Galra-appropriate… still… He's a catch. That's all I'm saying."

"Just…don't say it, though, okay? Just pretend neither of us heard anything. Please."


	3. Chapter 3 of 4- Pazzle!

**(A/N- Sorry for the delay with this. My health hasn't been great and I've barely been keeping up with my writing commitments, so editing this kept getting delayed. I hope you enjoy it!- Ebh)**

Video games with Pidge and Hunk had grown significantly over the course of the evening as first Shiro, Coran, and Romelle dropped by and joined in and then less than a varga later "Veracxa" arrived, hand in hand and toting a bag of snacks that Veronica had brought from Cuba. With only four controllers and nine people, they cycled through players pretty steadily.

Space was also an issue. Pidge, Hunk, Romelle, and Shiro all crammed onto the couch-sized seating with Veronica and Acxa snuggled up on the floor in front of them. Coran sat in one of the free standing easy chairs, failing terribly at 'sneaking' treats to Kosmo, who recognized a source of tasty nibbles when he saw one. Keith and Lance were tucked up together in the other wide chair, Lance sitting sideways in Keith's lap with his legs draped over one of the arms of the chair.

The coos and teasing had pretty much died down, but every now and then Keith saw one or another of the group glancing over at them and smiling fondly. In some ways, it felt so much like downtime back on the Castle that it made his heart clench and his throat tighten up. The differences were stark though- some good, like Lance in his arms, cheering him on and kissing him quickly when one of them did well on a game. Or the clumsy Galran trash talk from Veronica when she was competing against her girlfriend and Acxa's soft laughter at her attempts. Others… less so.

Overall, it was good. The simple comfort of family and long term friends did a lot to mitigate the stress of the reason why everyone was together in the first place. Eventually video games fell by the wayside and they all fell into conversation- mainly telling stories and sharing memories. Shiro and Veronica _did not_ shy away from stories of Keith's and Lance's younger days that had one or both of them pelting the storytellers with fluuto beans or hiding their face in the other's shoulder. Hunk, bless his soul, was already to jump in with a story that redeemed them, often with hilarious side commentary from either Pidge or Coran- who had decidedly different takes on most situations. Eventually, Pidge grumbled that Coran would always take Lance's side in any situation 'because of the whole explosion thing'.

Which, of course, Veronica asked about, her face going more and more still and impassive as the story continued. When it was done, Lance flashed some finger guns and made a quip about all the action movies they'd watched growing up. Pale, expression serious, Veronica untangled herself from her girlfriend and crossed over to the chair he and Lance were sharing. Hunk, who could not see her eyes, cooed and Keith shook his head frantically- because there was _fire_ in her eyes.

Lance cringed, but it did nothing to stop her from smacking at his shoulders and the back of his head, telling him off in Spanish so fast, accented and heavily dialectical that Keith was lost as to what exactly she was saying with the exception of three different ways to call someone an idiot, some language that was vulgar enough to make _Acxa_ blush and look away, and more than a few ways to call him brave or heroic (all of them directly connected to the idiot comments) . Lance squawked and flailed, making a show of protesting his sister's assault without actually using any of his considerable skill at blocking and dodging blows.

Keith was unsure how he was supposed to react. He was pretty certain that he didn't need to actually defend Lance from his sister, especially since Lance was perfectly capable of a much more effective defense. On the other hand, he was also pretty sure that it was not really acceptable to let someone treat his boyfriend like that. There was also the minor issue that Lance was still _in his lap_ and that meant he was absolutely in range of a stray hand or elbow.

"Alright, alright… that's enough, Hellcat," Acxa coaxed, tugging Veronica away, "you've made your point. It was ages ago and getting mad now won't change the past. They all did things that seem reckless in hindsight… and so did you."

"Yeah- you think I haven't heard the story about you staying behind to provide cover for the MFEs that time that everyone thought you'd been killed? Because I _have_ and I felt just like that but I didn't go off on you!" Lance managed to glare and pout at the same time, which really shouldn't have been hot. **Why** was that so hot?

"Who told you that story?" Veronica demanded.

"Like… everyone? Sam first, then Griffin and Kinkade, then _Marco_ ranted about it, and Curtis, and Nads… it's like the most popular 'Badass McClain' story on the go- I've heard it almost as many times as I've heard the story about the time Matt got locked out in his underwear and bribed Kinkade with some kind of weird fungus or something from the biotech wing. So… like… a lot."

"It was yeast," Pidge and Hunk said in unison, making Romelle burst out laughing.

"Oh! For the ale he makes in his quarters? I quite like it. He gave me a bunch of bottles the last time I was on earth. Very tasty."

"Ale? Oh, my God," Lance and Veronica looked at each other and snickered, "homebrew! No wonder he geeks out about yeast so much!"

"Wait… was that a secret?" Romelle looked horrified that she might have broken her friend's trust.

"I don't think so," patting her knee, Hunk smiled warmly at her, "don't worry about it."

"Just how much time do you spend in Ryan Kinkade's quarters, Romy?" Keith couldn't quite hide the little snort of amusement he let out when he heard Shiro break out his 'big brother' voice for someone that _wasn't Keith_ for a change.

"Um… a… normal… amount? I think?" She tapped at her lip, pondering, "more than I spend in Griffin's or Ezor's… less than Ina's or yours. So, probably an average amount. Why?"

"Shiro- you realize that Romy is actually _older_ than you, right?" Acxa laughed, "and that she's talking about _Kinkade_ so maybe stop being overprotective and just relax. Ryan's a good guy."

"I know Ryan's a good guy!" Shiro protested, "I just didn't know they were all that close?"

"What's happening?" Romelle asked Hunk softly.

"Shiro's jumping to conclusions," Keith could see Pidge rolling her eyes as she spoke even from the other side of the room.

"Shiro!" gasped Romelle, hitting his shoulder, "no! I'm not having sex with Ryan!"

"More's the pity," Acxa observed drily, "even _I_ think that guy is… ummm… never mind… I love you, Hellcat…"

Veronica chuckled, "oh no… please, go ahead and finish that comment about my friend and coworker… Don't let me stop you…"

"I think… that guy is… very handsome," Acxa tried.

"Oh, please! He's sex on legs and I'd bet dollars to donuts every person in this room has at least one dream that made them very grateful that he's not really one for casual conversation because that would be sooo awwwwkward!" She shoved her girlfriend playfully, "the man is a bottle of gin!"

"A bottle of gin?" Shiro echoed, expression incredulous.

"Lesbian slang… Gin used to be called 'panty dropper'... because like… well, I'm sure you can figure it out."

Coran nearly choked, his face turning beet red as he spluttered and fussed, twirling his mustache, which made everyone else burst into laughter.

"Save me from my sister," Lance groaned, dropping his head to Keith's shoulder dramatically. "Please, Cutie!"

"Don't call me cutie… but… I mean… I _can_ if you are serious…" he whispered while everyone was distracted by Coran's discomfort with the conversation.

Lance lifted his head, his blue eyes curious and his smile soft. He took a breath and glanced quickly at the others, biting his lip as he thought. Keith's gaze caught on those white teeth digging into the soft flesh of his lip and it made something hot and primal curl deep in Keith's gut. Suddenly, 'saving' Lance from his sister was appealing for a whole new reason. His hand shifted slightly where it rested on Lance's hip, thumb stroking back and forth over the bone because he was suddenly starved for contact, despite the fact that Lance was _literally in his lap_. "Yeah," Lance whispered, and Keith watched his mouth form the words more than he really _listened_ to what the words were, "I'm serious."

"M'kay," he whispered back, flashing a smirk an instant before he changed the position of his arms and stood, lifting Lance bridal style.

"**Keith**!" squawked Lance, those strong arms snapping around his neck and holding tight. Lance's expression was shocked, but his scent had shifted in an instant, going musky and need-filled, and he could see the heat that flared in those Varadera eyes. Oh… he hadn't really been expecting t_hat_ reaction, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't absolutely _thrilled_ with it. In fact, Keith was pretty sure this was the best plan he'd ever had in his life. "Oh my God," chuckled Lance, hiding his face in the curve of Keith's throat, the little hitch and stutter in the warm air that steamed his skin doing roughly nothing to change Keith's mind about the brilliance of his idea.

"Thanks for the invite, Pidge," he said calmly, "it was fun to hang out with everyone for a while. See you in the morning!"

Pidge made a face and tossed a fluuto bean at him, and Shiro shook his head, but they all laughed and said their farewells. Then Hunk made a low whistle, and Romelle pretended to swoon, and Coran sighed wistfully and the whole group descended into chaos- each of them trying to outdo each other with double entendres and risque comments as he headed for the door with Lance in his arms, followed closely by Kosmo.

"Aren't you even going to say goodbye, _baby brother_," crooned Veronica, and he felt Lance move one arm in something that could have been a wave or a lewd gesture based on the cackles it prompted.

"What am I going to do with you?" Lance muttered, his face still pressed into the crook of his throat.

"I'm pretty sure you've got a long list of options, Hot Shot," he answered as he strode toward their quarters, "but the short answer is _anything you want_..."

That night, for the first time, Lance didn't sleep well while they shared a bed. His restlessness woke Keith, who recognized the little distressed noises Lance was making. Lance's nightmares weren't dramatic. He didn't thrash or toss and turn. There were no screams or talking in his sleep. Just heartbreaking little noises and a fine tremor that shook his whole frame… and the stench of fear rolling off his beautiful skin.

Kosmo was already awake, watching them from the foot of the bed. Keith was sure the space wolf was ready and willing to flash them away from any threat if it became necessary, but after travelling in the Black Lion with Keith, Krolia and Shiro, Kosmo was also no stranger to nightmares so he just lay there, massive tail thumping softly against the mattress.

"Lance," Keith said softly, pulling him closer and trying to soothe him into more peaceful dreams or gently wake him. He stroked his hand up and down Lance's arm and pressed little kisses to his face, making what he hoped were comforting noises between promises that he was safe, that everything was fine, and that he wasn't alone. Slowly, Lance began to relax against him, his breathing settling down in small increments.

It was working. Keith sighed in relief, shifting them so Lance was draped over his chest the way he liked. He twined his fingers in the soft brown hair, doing his best to keep up the gentle, comforting touches that seemed so effective. His fingertips traced the line of Lance's throat and skimmed over his shoulder. He brushed his knuckles along the high, sharp collarbones, and the graceful curve of his jaw, shushing and murmuring the whole time. Lance sighed and wriggled slightly, settling against him and Keith smiled, running the flat of his hand down Lance's back.

Which was a mistake.

Lance shrieked and bolted upright- eyes wide and and wild. He barely gasped any air into his lungs before the agonized sound repeated. Keith clamored in front of him, trying to catch his attention, but Lance wasn't seeing him. He was obviously still caught in the nightmare; hands clutching at the blankets reflexively. Kosmo whimpered and shifted, making his way over the bed to sniff at Lance and whine. Keith managed to pull him away before Lance flailed or something and caught the wolf with an elbow.

"Lance," he didn't yell, but he spoke loudly and clearly. He'd seen enough of Shiro's nightmares to know that yelling was a bad idea. "Lance! Wake up!" Carefully, he reached out to shake Lance by the knee. "Come on, Lance… wake up… wake up for me…"

Kosmo barked and the room flooded with light, Veronica and Acxa tumbling through the door with an impressive number of weapons, clearly ready to wage war. Veronica took one look at the bed and dropped her rifle, her arm darting out to signal for Acxa to do the same. "Shit… Okay… Keith, you gotta give him a _hard_ shake or it won't wake him. Grab his shoulders!"

Moving quickly, he did as she instructed. He shook Lance hard enough that his head wobbled from side to side and he blinked. The screams faltered and broke off. Beside him the bed dipped and Veronica leaned in close, speaking in soft, hushed tones, their first language sounding almost like music to Keith who wasn't quite awake enough to follow what she was saying.

"Lluvia?" Lance whispered, curling into Veronica like a little kid.

"That's me," she replied, hugging him tight. "You had a bad dream, that's all."

"Oh… yeah… I guess…"

"Love, we should get back to our quarters… he's awake… everything's fine in here," Acxa said softly, still loaded down with weapons.

"Yeah… just… gimme a minute…"

"Whaz.. umm… Veronica? Why does Acxa have guns?"

"We heard a ruckus- thought you might need back-up.. But you're fine. Everything's fine. I'm right next door, though. If you need me. Okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's fine. Go on back to bed. It was just a dumb dream. I'm fine."

"Thanks, Veronica," Keith said, keeping his voice low, not wanting to startle Lance, who seemed to realize he was there for the first time.

"Oh, God," he groaned and Keith could watch Lance remember where they were and why his sister would have assumed weapons were needed, his cheeks reddening as things sank in.

"No thanks needed," she answered with a shrug, rising from the bed. "You guys sleep well when you settle back in for the night."

There was another round of 'good-night's before the door slid shut behind the women and they were again. "Are you okay?" he asked Lance, "really?"

"Yeah, just… embarrassed…"

"About the nightmares? Lance, everybody has bad dreams sometimes."

"Yeah- I know, but… I dunno… makes me feel like a little kid or something."

He shifted closer, catching Lance's hand, "you wanna talk about it? Or you wanna talk about something else, as a distraction?"

"Something else," he answered immediately, "ask me something… anything, just nothing about the dream."

"Okay, sure… umm… oh! What did you call Veronica? You said something I didn't catch…"

Lance paused, thinking. "Lluvia?" Keith nodded and he smiled, "it means rain. I used to call her that when we were kids."

"Kind of a strange nickname- is there a story?"

"I was really young… so I'm not sure exactly how it started. But, yeah. Rain… uhh…"

"You used to talk about how much you missed rain all the time…"

"Well, I did. I love the rain. But, Veronica was with me at the Garrison. She was like, my little portable chunk of family so I never really felt like I was completely _alone_, you know? We've always been close… and I was a dumb, prideful kid. It felt less pathetic to talk about how much I missed rain than to whine for my big sister… so sometimes I'd pretend it was like… a code."

"We'd probably have thought it was less weird to miss your sister than to go on about rain as much as you did," Keith pointed out, his voice teasing and gentle.

Lance gaped at him, and then hit him with a pillow, "you _ass_ I was _sharing!_"

Keith chuckled and let the pillow knock him over so he could smile up at Lance, "I love you."

He huffed, his petulant expression not quite reaching his eyes, "finnnnne… I love you, too. Let's go back to bed."

They settled back into bed, Kosmo huffing protectively at Lance a few times and nudging his face with his muzzle for good measure before he curled up at the bottom of the bed again. Lance had giggled from the soft contact, Keith guessed the fur tickled based on the way he'd squirmed. It was adorable and did a lot to reassure him that everything was alright, even with the stress of the nightmare so fresh.

Lance crawled onto him- he'd kind of figured Lance to be big on spooning, but so far he seemed much more inclined to sprawl over Keith like he was a body pillow. It was nice. Keith liked feeling the warm weight settled over him. He liked the way Lance skimmed his hand down his side and wrapped it around his hip.

"Um… you're naked," Lance said, going very still.

"Yeah? So're you…" They'd actually _started_ the night naked, so he wasn't sure why Lance was surpris- oh. Oh no.

He felt Lance start to laugh before he heard it, but before he could say anything, Lance gave into the helpless laughter he'd been fighting. "Those poor lesbians," he half squealed, laughing until he went silent and then just shaking through breathless gasping giggles.

Keith would have been _fine_ if Lance hadn't managed to say that, but he sounded so perversely _delighted_ that Veronica and Acxa had busted in on both of them completely starkers that Keith caved, letting his own laughter roll through him. Honestly, they'd all been so focused on Lance, he wasn't even sure if either of the women had even _noticed_ their lack of clothing. He certainly couldn't remember what Veronica had been wearing- although he'd definitely have noticed if she didn't have _anything_ on.

Probably.

He was pretty sure.

Maybe.

By the time they managed to catch their breath again, Lance was wiping tears from his face and Kosmo was making little distressed noises because the idiot humans were keeping him awake. "Sleep," Keith said softly, like he was reminding himself of the reason they were in the bed in the first place.

"Mmhmm," Lance nodded, resting one tear-damp hand along Keith's jaw and leaning in to kiss him. Keeping the kiss soft and tender, Lance curled into Keith's arms, tangling their legs together. His hand slid into Keith's hair and he took his time kissing him. There was no ramping up of intensity, no hungry little sounds or demanding touches. Just sweet, gentle, melting kisses- one blending into the next effortlessly. Keith's head swam. He felt almost drunk. When Lance finally lifted his head, pulling away, Keith blinked at him in a daze, a shivery sigh escaping him. "Love you," Lance whispered, nestling his head on Keith's shoulder, "sweet dreams, Cutie."

"Don't call me cutie," Keith replied automatically, feeling Lance smile at the response, "I hope you have good dreams, too."]

"You… uh… you weren't purring… before…" Lance said after several doboshes.

"Oh… yeah. That might take awhile to come back. After the fire… it's just hard to feel safe going to sleep right now. At least, safe _enough_ for that to happen."

"Oh. Okay… that makes sense."

"Sorry, Lance. I know you like hearing it."

Lance lifted his head, "stop it. Don't apologize for having a completely understandable reaction to people trying to kill us. I was joking about the white noise machine thing. I like hearing you breathe, hearing your heartbeat, too. The purr… it's special… and I get that. I know how hard it is to feel safe out here. Especially right now."

The way Lance cuddled up to him to sleep suddenly made sense to Keith, and the reason was so sweet he couldn't help but smile, even though it didn't really fit the conversation. It just… it made him happy to think that Lance wanted to hear his heartbeat while they slept. He trailed his knuckles along Lance's jaw, "I love you."

Lance faltered, whatever he was about to say dying on his lips. He leaned into the soft touch, his smile changing, "I love you, too, Keith. It doesn't feel like we've only been together for… God… what? A week and a half? Two weeks? It is so hard to track time in space… I… I've loved you for so long."

"You were the one that said this was the middle of our love story," he reminded him. "So, it's not the beginning… it's not going to feel like the beginning. We've already got so much history. We've loved each other for… who knows how long… we just show it differently now, I guess."

"Yeah," he nodded, letting his head return to Keith's chest, "we just show it differently. I like that."

"Ready to try this sleep thing again?"

"Yeah… good night, Cutie."

"Night… and don't call me cutie."

Contrary to Lance's theory, interviews were not growing on Keith. They were not fun. He was not getting more confident. The only thing he liked about them was the way they showcased Lance's stage presence and charm.

That was it.

This time, they were being interviewed for some kind of Unilu media thing aimed at adolescents and young adults- which Lance was _thrilled_ about for some reason that he couldn't grasp. After a few fairly standard questions, Yimia, the host of… whatever this was… gleefully clapped two of her four hands and cried, "and now it is time for **games**!"

Lance turned to him with the kind of manic grin Keith had long ago learned didn't bode well for him. "Games, babe! This is going to be so fun!"

No. No, it really wasn't.

They were still on board their ship, but Pidge had rigged up holoscanners, so it _l__ooked_ like they were mere feet away from Yimia and her excited gesticulations. The Houston had been flown to the planet Yimia broadcast on and there were Blades that were going through the motions of providing protection to Keith and Lance, despite the fact that they were safely ensconced on this ship, who knew how far away. The idea was to draw out anyone who might pose a threat, while **not** 'parading around the universe with targets on their backs' (Shiro's words).

Seated on their stools, they were each handed a data pad and a divider was pushed between them. Lights flashed and there was loud music and for a tick, Keith felt like they were back on Garfle, Warfle, Snick… which didn't do a thing to soothe his nerves.

"We'll start with myyyyyyy favorite, because this is my show and that's what I want to do," Yimia giggled, "Rohsen BEEEEEE! Okay, here's how Rohsen Bee works- I'm going to ask a question and you each write your answer on the data pads- No PEEKING!- and then you reveal your answers!"

"My sister Rachel did this at her wedding," Lance laughed, "this is a blast! I can't wait!"

"So… all I have to do is write my answer on the pad?" Keith confirmed. That didn't sound so bad. "Sounds simple enough."

Yimia scrolled through what Keith assumed was a list of questions, giggling and winking at the cameras the whole time, "don't worry you guys! I've got some gooood ones here! PAZZLE! First question! Whooooo…. fell first?"

"Ooof- you really hit the ground running, don't you, Yimia?" chuckled Lance. Keith could see the look on his face in his mind as clear as a bell- he knew that flirty tone, knew the smile and sparkling eyes that went with it. "No peeking, Keith!"

He took a deep breath, debating whether to be honest and reveal uncomfortably personal details or to lie and have to try to keep those false details straight in subsequent interviews. Sighing, he wrote out his answer.

"Done!" Announced Lance.

"Yeah, me too," he replied, trying to keep his voice upbeat. The divider dropped and Lance tried to lean over to see his answer. He pulled the data pad away, "hey! You were the one who was all 'no peeking!', Lance!"

"You're right. You're right. My bad," Lance shifted in his seat, adopting a serious expression.

"On 'Bee' turn your pads around," Yimia instructed excitedly, "Roh! Sen! BEE!"

Keith flipped the pad, his hastily scrawled 'me' standing out in bright orange. Lance leaned forward and laughed, so he did the same, twisting to read Lance's answer. "What?" he shook his head, "you are wrong, McClain… it was definitely me."

"Awwww," cooed Yimia, "how swirleen! They both said 'me'!" She made an indulgent face, clasping a pair of hands over her heart. "That means a follow-up question! Divider **up!** PAZZLE! Looking back, when did you fall?" She made a little squealing noise and turned away from them, facing the camera, "this should settle the question nicely."

So, help me, Mullet," teased Lance, "if you say the fictional bonding moment…"

"It wasn't the bonding moment," he laughed, "which actually happened! And I know you remember it!"

"What? Pssshhh.. I have no idea what you are talking about… I think I'd remember that…"

"Done," he said, suddenly feeling like a bundle of nerves and second guessing his answer. He'd fought and denied his feelings for Lance for so long, it was kind of tricky to pinpoint exactly when he'd fallen for him… but he went with the first time he remembered that he'd looked at Lance and felt that lurch in his gut and that lump in his throat… and it was significantly earlier than he'd thought up until right this moment.

"Yeah, me too." Lance sounded… off. The upbeat flirtiness was gone. He sounded almost- "I'm really nervous all of a sudden!"

The divider dropped and Keith smiled at him, "I've never really nailed this down before."

"Yeah, me either! Oh well, this might get embarrassing! Let's go!"

"Ready? Roh! Sen! BEE!" They both flipped their pads.

"What?! Wait! Really? Keith!" Lance gaped at him, "oh my God!"

"Let's see what we've got! Keith your answer… is… Pazzle, this is going to need some explanation- I hope you are prepared to tell us the story behind 'Fighting Over Shiro' because it sounds _spicy_!"

"It's not spicy," laughed Lance, nearly falling off his seat, "it's not spicy, at all."

"I'll explain," he said, "but his answer first."

"I fell first," Lance said, holding up his pad.

"The rivalry was a crush," read Yimia, "that's going to need an explanation, too. Pazzle! I love a good story!"

"The rivalry was a crush?" Keith gaped at Lance, who blushed and shrugged. "That's your answer? Seriously?"

"Heyo- Mr. Fighting Over Shiro! You didn't even know my _name_ then!"

He shrugged, "cute, brave guy rushing in to save my brother trumped the name thing."

"Cu- what!?" Spluttering, Lance shook his head and blushed scarlet, "hang on a tick, Yimia!" He hopped off his stool and caught Keith's face between his hands, kissing him quickly, "I love you, Mullet."

Yimia laughed, "looks like this is a revelation for you, huh?"

"Uhh…" Keith cleared his throat as Lance returned to his seat. Somehow their hands had gotten tangled up together in the time between the kiss and the sitting, but Keith made no move to change that. "We've known each other so long… we never really… got too much into the details…"

"So… _Why_ were you two fighting over Shiro The Hero? Pazzle," she fanned herself with her data pad, "that's an image!"

"He's my brother," yelped Keith, which made Lance laugh so hard he went silent, just shaking in his seat and occasionally dragging loud breaths in. "Umm… we both saw him returning to Earth, and went to investigate." This was tricky… _why_ hadn't he just said 'the night we found the Blue Lion'? "There was… some debate over who was going to be the one to help Shiro out of there."

"Who won?" she asked, looking far too invested, all four of her hands propping up her chin, "the debate. Who helped Shiro out?"

"Uh, we both did. We each took an arm- there was a bit of a time crunch."

"Awwww, swirleen! Okay!" She turned her attention to Lance, who had pretty much stopped laughing and was wiping his eyes, "what did _your_ answer mean? What's a crush?"

Lance let out a sigh, shaking his long limbs gently, "we were in flight classes together- learning to pilot. I declared him my rival. It was… a poorly disguised infatuation. A crush is Earth slang for infatuation."

"A crush," she tipped her head back and forth moving her mouth like she was tasting the word. Nodding, she declared, "I like it! You heard it hear first friends- crush! Now! Are you ready for the next question?"

"I guess so," Keith said, clearing his data pad and adjusting his seat. His fingers felt cold without Lance's entwined with them. The divider returned and he heard Lance moving around on the other side of it.

"Something a little less… intense this time," Yimia laughed, "who eats more sweets and junk food?"

That one, they agreed on- Keith. Living on the farm with his family, Lance ate mostly home cooked meals. The next series of questions went pretty much the same way. They'd know each other so well for so long that most of the trivia questions were pretty straightforward.

Who had the worse temper? Keith.

Who was more talkative? Lance.

Who was the bigger flirt? Lance.

Who was better with money? Lance.

Who was the early riser? Keith.

Who was tidier? Keith.

There was some discussion over who was the better pilot and who was more stubborn, and they eventually declared ties on both of those questions.

"What word would you use to describe your first kiss?" Yimia asked, eyes dancing.

Keith heard Lance clear his throat as he stared at the data pad, trying to decide what to answer.

"You better say something good," Lance grumbled, making Keith smile. At least he knew Lance's answer was going to be flattering. Taking a breath, he wrote out his answer.

"Done," they said at the same time and the divider dropped.

Yimia squealed and jumped in place, "I cannot wait for this one! Roh! Sen! Bee!" She leaned forward as they flipped their answers over. "Awwww… swirleen! 'Finally' and 'life-changing'!"

"That's two words, Lance!"

"Nuh-uh! There's a hyphen! One word!"

He scribbled out his answer, "hyphen shmyphen… if we're going with two words… I'm changing mine!"

"But I like your answer!" Lance insisted through giggles.

He wrote out the new answer and flipped the data pad around, triumphant.

"True-Love," she read and sighed, miming a swoon.

"That's not fair," protested Lance, "you deliberately tried to top my answer!"

"Did I?" he asked, "or did I just use the same number of words? What would you have said if it was **one** word, Sharpshooter? No hyphen!"

Lance sighed, and took a dobosh to think before a sexy little smirk grew out of his smile. "Divine. That's my single word answer. Divine."

After that, the rest of the interview was pretty much a blur for Keith. It was like his mental recording had stuck on that one word. Divine. He was fairly confident that he'd interacted appropriately, if only because if he hadn't Lance would have said something, or _done_ something… but he wasn't really forming new memories. Divine.

Divine.

Had Lance just been trying to outdo him? Had he decided that Keith's second answer wasn't sincere and felt like he needed to play the same game? Had he known that Keith _was _sincere and panic- dialing things back by ramping them up to comical levels? Was Keith more invested in this than Lance was?

Why was his brain doing this to him _now_? He hadn't had these doubts before the interview. He'd been completely secure in how things were between them from the moment they'd gotten together. What happened? Why was he so shaken now?

Acxa had shown up to drag Lance off… somewhere, Kosmo trailing behind them, and, left to his own devices, Keith had ended up in one of the many training rooms on the big ship. Lost in his thoughts, he'd stretched and warmed up and run through a couple of simple forms of the Galran hand to hand that Krolia had taught him on the Space Whale. He found he didn't spar as often as he used to, and he hardly ever ran droid-based combat sims anymore. He'd begun to prefer the almost meditative work-out of practicing the precise movements and patterns of strikes of Olen'Ga'Tyr.

He knew why- he had less anger to channel nowadays. He'd worked through a lot of his issues from when he was younger. It had been hard- painful sometimes- but he wasn't that angry, isolated, orphaned kid anymore. He had a Mom, and they had a good relationship. He had Shiro. Romelle and Acxa. Even Curtis and Kolivan. A brother, two sisters… brother-in-law… whatever Kolivan was… and Kosmo. A family. Beyond them, there were the others- Hunk, Pidge and Coran. A few select Blades that he'd fought beside enough to consider brothers-in-arms. Beyond even that, there was Matt, Ezor and Zethrid, the MFE Pilots. Friends that were practically family. So many people that cared about him, that he cared about.

And then there was Lance.

He'd meant it. His answer. It had been honest. Lance was his true love. He'd known that for… a very long time. He'd known it as he watched Allura and Lance fall into each other's gravity, drawn closer and closer by the day. He'd known it when he'd sent Lance off to their first date with words of support and encouragement and then spent vargas sobbing into Kosmo's fur. He'd known it when he held Allura in his arms for the last time and said goodbye to her instead of the millions of words that had jammed up in his head like a blood clot- how much she'd come to mean to him, arguments against her sacrifice, anger at how much he knew that was going to hurt people he loved, the man he was in love with. He'd known it as Lance settled into life with his family to start the long slow process of mourning and healing. He'd known it at every reunion dinner, every vid call, every visit, every day.

He hadn't let it keep him from trying to move on. He'd gone on dates, even had a few boyfriends over the years, but no one had ever been able to dislodge Lance from his long-standing residence in Keith's heart. No one ever would.

And now they were together. Lance loved him. Lance was _i__n love_ with him. Hell, he was doing interviews where he talked about it in detail. Keith knew he wasn't lying about being in love with him. He knew Lance meant what he said. He just…

Growling in frustration, he shook out his limbs and restarted that last form, focusing on his breathing. Divine. Divine. Divine. The word just kept bouncing around in his head. It didn't feel like it fit. It felt false and wrong and discordant.

"You're dropping your elbow. It's throwing off your balance."

"Veronica?" He turned to face her, surprised that she'd interrupted him, "you know Olen'Ga'Tyr?"

"From an observer's point of view only, I promise," she laughed, "Acxa does it every morning. Sometimes I keep her company."

"Did you… want to work out?" He wasn't sure why she was _here._

"No," she shook her head, the wavy hair bouncing from the movement. "You really shouldn't be alone- and you sent Kosmo with-"

"I didn't send-"

"Yes. You did," she adjusted her glasses, "you sent Kosmo with Lance and your sister. So, Lance sent _his_ sister. See how that works?"

"You're my bodyguard?" He shifted his weight, not sure he liked those implications.

"I'm your back-up." Her left hand wrapped around her right forearm and there was a soft hum. Panels opened and shifted, a hard light blaster forming around her wrist and hand. "You're a close up fighter, I'm ranged."

"I remember," he replied, a smile tugging at his lips. She'd saved his life with her sniper skills, once. Second best marksman in the McClain family. "Has something happened?"

Another headshake as she dismissed the weapon, "nothing new. So- why are you so rattled?"

"Who says I'm rattled?"

"Well, my eyes and brain, to start," she said evenly, "but also my brother. He thinks it is a delayed reaction to the nightmare last night."

"What? No… it isn't that. It's… I don't know…"

"Ah… I think I know that expression. It's really weird how much you and Acxa look alike, you know…"

"So I have been told." He smiled, it was common for people to think that he and Acxa were full blooded siblings that simply favored different bloodlines.

"Mmmm… help me out here- that looks like relationship panic. So, are you freaking out that things are getting too serious too fast, that you are in over your head, or that he's about to come to his senses and beat feet?"

"What?"

"It's been a couple of weeks… just enough time for the whole 'too good to be true' terror to sink its claws in and those are the most common ways that shows up. So, is it one of those? Or a new one I didn't think of?"

"I can't believe you honestly think I'm going to answer that. Have you met me? I'm not big on sharing…"

"Really? You tell half the known universe that your _first kiss_ with my brother is best described as 'true-love'; you're cool with me seeing your package, but not telling what you are freaking out about? That's too personal? Alright," she rolled her eyes at him, "I can work with that."

He groaned, she _had_ to mention the night before, didn't she? "Half the known universe?"

"Oh yeah- easy! Yimia has massive reach. It was a real coup to score that interview."

"No wonder he was so excited." Keith pushed a hand through his hair. He really hated all this scrutiny.

"Right- So! One by one. Here we go!" Veronica left the doorway, crossing the large room as she spoke. "First of all, the whole 'too fast' thing. You guys have spent _years_ getting to this point, there is nothing 'fast' about your relationship. You've already done all the groundwork, taken all the babysteps… this is just… your pace. Got it?"

"Got it." He couldn't help but smile. Sometimes, Lance and Veronica were so much alike it was eerie. Other times… she had a presence that he didn't. Something… regal… about her. Commanding.

"Next up: are you starting to think you aren't quite as into my brother as you thought you were?"

"Of course not!" he actually flinched from the thought.

"Then you aren't in over your head," she flashed him a trademark McClain grin, coming to stand beside him, "and, as for the last thing. Lance isn't going anywhere. He worked his ass off to get to a place where he could be serious with someone again. Be serious with _you._ You…" Trailing off, she shrugged, "he is where he has wanted to be for a long time."

He made a little grunt of agreement, not really sure what to say to that.

"I'm serious!" She laughed, "fine, don't believe me. I was kind of hoping for an ally against the whole 'Acxa and Lance BFFs' thing, but whatever."

"What?! The what now?"

"Lance and Acxa," she repeated, "did you… not… know? Oh God! Keith, they are ridiculous! I can hardly ever get time off work when Acxa visits so she hangs out with him, and they've become like besties. It's infuriating! They have inside jokes and his Galran is so much better than mine so they yammer on about the most inane stuff and it's full of inside jokes I don't know and I am so lost! Drives me nuts! Oh! And they can do that thing- you know the thing that Lance and Hunk do? Where they have an _entire_ conversation in, like, eyebrow movements and shrugs? Lance and Acxa do pretty much the same thing. So. Annoying."

"How did I not know this!?" He was flabbergasted, he'd had no idea that they were so close! Although, Lance had mentioned Acxa as an explanation for knowing things that surprised Keith… and Acxa had made that 'mutually assured destruction' comment, so… "Crap! How long has this been going on?"

"_Years_," she groaned, "once upon a time, I was really thrilled about them being friends. Not so much anymore."

"I didn't think they had that much in common…"

"I think they mostly bitch about us," she said ruefully. "I'm mainly basing that on the way they shut up and stare at me when I walk in on them talking like I just interrupted plans for a surprise party or something, but… yeah. That's my theory."

"But why would they be bitching about me? What did I do?" He was starting to worry now. Had he been pissing them both off and not known it?

"Other than being oblivious to his flirting for years? Maybe bitching is the wrong word… conspiring, maybe? I know Lance has been learning a ton about Galra history and culture, and how the Blades work. So, like, not really _you_ personally, more like _your world_... Like the parts of your life he didn't get to see."

"That doesn't sound too bad," he mused, relaxing a little, "and I wasn't _oblivious _I just didn't think he was serious!"

"Mmhmm, sure… and yeah, it _sounds_ fine until you get into an argument with one of them and the other glares daggers at you until it's all patched up," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, "then it sucks."

"Ohhhh… yeah, I bet," cringing, he glanced over at her, "so… you mentioned something about an ally?"

Her face lit up, the expression so much like Lance that he couldn't help but grin, "yes! So, here's what I was thinking…"

* * *

If he'd thought that age and time away would improve Lance's tolerance for meetings, he'd been wrong. His _focus_ was better, but Keith knew him well enough to spot the impatient fidgeting of him tapping out patterns on his thighs with his thumbs, and the blink-and-you-miss-it flashes of irritation. It didn't help that what _should_ be a simple intel breakdown had become a rather complicated discussion on how to navigate social customs of an allied planet that meant a level of security that was… just unacceptable given the resources that the group making threats might have access to.

"Can I just point out, _again_ that Keith and I are not government representatives, political leaders, lobbyists, royalty, or anything else that would give us any _actual_ clout? I mean sure, sure, people have decided that this whole thing is symbolic, but we're not Princes or Popes! Why does this have to be so complicated? If Jazolwa feels snubbed because we don't stop there when they _refuse_ our security protocols, then they feel snubbed. We are private citizens and this is a press tour- that's it. How is it turning into this… mess!?"

"You sound like me," Keith chuckled, "usually you are the one going on about the power of symbols for increased goodwill and not being cowed by 'one little splinter cell of bigots'." The security protocols that were in contention being the remote interviews and having Kolivan and Coran going to the surface as representatives for Keith and Lance. The Jazol government would accept nothing less than the 'Intendeds' physical presence on their soil, assuring them that their own Planetary Defense Personnel could handle all possible threats.

"Yeah, that was a lot easier to say before somebody ended up in surgery for seven hours because they were _pretending _to protect me on Xaxanunilu! Which reminds me- do we have an update on poor Yorak?" Pidge snickered and Lance glared, surging to his feet.

"I know! I know! Honest to God I'm worried about him too- but I cannot hear that without thinking of Shakespeare and it's awful…. And I swear, if they hadn't already assured us that he would pull through I wouldn't even thi- You know what? Let's just stick with 'I'm sorry, won't happen again'," she shrank back in her seat as Lance's glare intensified to the point where it looked like he might spontaneously develop the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes.

Kolivan cleared his throat, "Yorak is out of surgery and recovering. Everything went well, and once they restored the blood lost from the injury, his vitals improved greatly."

"Oh, good," Lance relaxed a little, "I'd never have forgiven myself if…"

"Hey," Keith soothed, "stop it. They aren't pretending to protect us, they _are_ protecting us. That shot was meant for one of us- just because we weren't there doesn't change that. It just confirms that this misdirection is warranted."

"You're right," he sighed, pushing a hand through his brown hair, "but that also means that it isn't worth the risk to us or the Blades that would be accompanying us to stop at Jazolwa. There's no way that they really understand the tactics and training that they'd be dealing with… and the global security net on that planet is so… outdated..."

"Ordinarily, I would agree, my boy," Coran interjected, his voice booming over the other conversations at the table. "But in this specific case, the appearance of lax security could work to our favor. We've identified the compromised line of information. If we send the _wrong_ intel through that channel, we might be able to dig out our mole."

That had become their secondary goal. The primary one was still to get them safely to Daibazaal so that they could complete the Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai and show that they weren't cowed by threats, of course. But it had become clear that the splinter cell had someone inside the ranks of the Blade of Marmora and that was a serious risk to far more people than _just_ him and Lance.

"A sting? You're talking about a sting," Lance paused, Keith could see his brain turning the idea over in the way his eyes focused. "How many people had access to the information about our interview with Yimia?"

Krolia checked her notes, "fifteen people had clearance to see that information."

"There were no indications of any virtual tampering with the data lines, security codes, or information storage," Pidge added.

"Yeah, and I checked the hardware on every one of those ships myself, bud. There was no tampering, no taps, no nuthin. Not when they left my sight- and anyone who had access to the ship had clearance for the information about the protocols in place on Xaxanunilu, so would have known you weren't physically there."

"Compartmentalizing done right," nodded Coran.

"What do you think, Keith?" Lance dropped back into his seat, catching both Keith's hands in his own, "you've got a lot more experience with all of this stuff than I do… and the others are not in the crosshairs like you and I. You've barely weighed in, like, at all."

"I think a sting might be the best way to go," he answered after a moment, "people _will_ die sooner or later if we can't figure out who the sympathizer is. I don't like the idea of you being in danger- this isn't what you signed on for when you left the far-"

"Stop it!" Lance cut him off, "I might not have _then_ but I absolutely have _since_ so get over all that crap right now. I don't like the idea of you being in danger, either- but we don't really get a vote on that part. You want to do the sting?"

Keith nodded, "yeah. Let's catch this asshole."

"You heard my man," Lance crowed, turning back to the table, "and _when_ we catch him- Keith and I want to be the ones to tell Yorak. So… Coran- you wouldn't have said anything if you didn't have a plan in mind."

"Well, yes, you are correct about that, my boy," Coran nodded, tugging on his lapels. "Several alternatives, in fact. To start- how widespread is the knowledge that there are Alteans on board?"

"Ooooh!" Romelle clapped her hands together excitedly, "I get to take part in the plan?"

"Uhhh… Romy, you know that probably means an adventure, right?" Hunk hiss-whispered, leaning toward her.

She sagged slightly, but rallied, "I want to help. Even if it means an adventure." She smiled at Keith and Lance, "for my family."

Lance blew her a kiss, and she rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I promise, Romelle, no yalmors this time! Uhhh… Coran? There won't be any yalmors, right?"

"I hadn't considered the possibility of utilizing faunatonium," Coran murmured, twirling his moustache, "there could be tactical benefit to recreating the shrinking effects of-"

"Very few people outside of this ship are aware of the presence of Alteans," Kolivan interjected, cutting Coran off before the tangent went any further. "It's not classified information, but the majority of the attention was placed on securing the ships and protecting Keith and Lance.

"True- but if _anyone_ was going to notice Alteans, it would be the sympathizer," pointed out Shiro, "that's generally how bigots work."

"Right. Right. That still leaves a good… six plans completely viable! More if we obtain faunatonium…"

"I don't think tracking down faunatonium is needed," Krolia said gently, "six is plenty of options."

"I don't think we all need to be present to go over the merits of six different plans," pointed out Veronica, "that runs the risk of information overload for those of us who aren't used to this much tactical preparation… and we've already been in here for hours."

Kolivan checked the time on his data pad, "yes, you're right. Krolia, Shiro, Veronica, Coran, and I will evaluate the options and get back to you with an actual plan. We'll reconvene in the morning- barring any urgent developments. Dismissed."

"I'd like to stay," Acxa said, surprising Keith, "I spent a significant amount of time strategizing with a seditious intent. I think I might have a unique perspective."

Veronica smiled and caught her hand in easy affection and out of the corner of his eye, Keith spotted Lance giving Acxa a subtle thumbs up. In the few days since his conversation with Veronica, he'd noticed more and more signs of the friendship between Lance and Acxa. It was a little strange to think about, but overall, he was glad. Lance was a great friend to have, and Acxa deserved more friends.

"I think that is an excellent idea," Coran boomed, and some tension left Acxa's shoulders.

"C'mon, Cutie," Lance purred at him, tugging him out of his seat, "we missed lunch and if we are in the mess hall at the same time as Hunk, he'll feed us!"

"Don't call me cutie," he muttered, letting Lance drag him out of the room.

* * *

The night before they were scheduled to disembark on Jazolwa, it was Keith who couldn't sleep. Coran's plan was convoluted to the nth degree and while he had faith in the Altean, there were a lot of factors at play, and Keith couldn't seem to stop running through his part of the scheme.

Unable to toss and turn without disturbing Lance, he was stuck with staring blankly at the ceiling as his mind churned. When he finally wrenched his thoughts away from the plan, they landed firmly on the man in his arms. Less than a phoeb ago, they'd been hanging out of the McClain family farm, just old friends. Now…

He still had moments of panic, where his concern that he might be more invested in this relationship than Lance was swamped him and threatened to pull him back through years of work and growth to the mindset of that bitter, angry kid who'd learned far too well that _people leave _no matter how much you loved them. Occasionally, something would happen that would remind him of the close calls- a mention of Yorak's name, a repeat of the threatening message showing up in the morning newsfeed, or even just the memory of trying to convince Lance to sleep in the waterbed _alone_ that night. If Lance had done what he'd asked… the thought left him cold and shaking. That was just far too close for comfort.

"You're thinkin'too loud," yawned Lance, lifting his head to blink at Keith in the low light, "an'squishing me a lil'bit."

"Oh… sorry," he smiled sheepishly at his boyfriend, loosening his hold.

"Have you always been like this the night before a mission?" Lance asked, stretching. The move shifted him higher in the bed and he buried his face in the curve of Keith's neck, teasing the sensitive skin with nuzzles and nibbling little kisses.

Keith shivered and sighed, "not always. This one is just…"

"I know, right? Never play chess with Coran or Acxa!"

"Mom and Shiro were really impressed- Kolivan, too." He smiled, remembering the matter of fact compliment on the insights that Acxa brought to the table from stoic Kolivan.

"People forget that she was an actual General. It's gonna go fine. It's a solid plan." Lance brushed Keith's hair out of his face softly, "we're surrounded by amazing people."

"Yeah… it just feels like the stakes are so high…"

Lance laughed, "we saved all realities! Twice! This is nothing compared to that. Stakes? What stakes?"

"You," he whispered, "losing you. That's high stakes."

"Knock it off- I'm supposed to be the romantic one, remember? You've gotta stop saying so much romantic stuff- it's undermining my reputation. This is almost as bad as the true-love-with-a-hyphen thing."

"Sorry… I'm not trying to be romantic…"

"Yeah, I know- that's part of the issue, Cutie!" Seeming to give up on sleep for the time being, Lance sat up, "you just… tell the truth, and because it is the truth, and not some line, it makes it even more romantic. You are, right? Just telling the truth?"

"Yes? Is that bad? Does it bother you?"

"Does it _bother me_ that I have an honest, romantic boyfriend? No. Definitely not. It doesn't bother me, Keith." He smiled softly, reaching out to stroke Keith's cheek, "sometimes… this doesn't seem real."

"Yeah I have a hard time believing that we are dealing with an actual terrorist threat, too."

"God, you are stupidly humble sometimes, babe," he leaned down to kiss Keith's forehead, "I was talking about being with you. About you being my honest, romantic boyfriend."

"I'm not doing anything romantic, though. I'm just _not_ lying." Seriously, even now, there were times when Lance made absolutely zero sense to him.

"Like when you described our first kiss as 'true love'..." Keith couldn't tell if that was a question or an example.

"Mmhmm…"

"Is that what this is? True love?" Lance bit his lip, studying Keith's face. He looked… almost scared.

Which made complete sense.. Once Keith pulled his head out of his ass and remembered her. Allura.

"Doesn't have to be the truth for you," he whispered, not quite able to keep the sadness out of his voice. "I know things are different… I mean, you and I have very different dating histories."

"I don't care about your dating history, Keith. I've only ever wanted you to be happy- even if that wasn't with me…"

His heart lurched in his chest- why did Lance think he was talking about himself? "No. That's not… I'm not… I… I just meant… I know you were in love with Allura- I don't expect you to love me more than you loved her. Please don't think I want you to… like… pretend she wasn't important… or… you know… whatever…"

Lance sighed and it sounded so sad, "Keith… I don't compare you to Allura. It's… not like that… it's like… What's your favorite fruit?"

"What?! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Humor me."

"Uhhh… kiwis, I guess."

"_Kiwis?_ Seriously?"

"What's wrong with kiwis?" Sometimes, talking to Lance was so very strange.

"Nothing… I just… I don't think I've _ever_ heard someone say that was their favorite fruit… Whatever- okay… what's your favorite baked good?"

"Red velvet donuts- you know that…"

"Does loving red velvet donuts have anything to do with loving kiwis? Are you not allowed to love kiwis when you have a red velvet donut? Does loving kiwis mean you can't love red velvet donuts?"

"I'm red velvet donuts in this analogy, right?" Keith asked- Lance's questions were making a bit more sense now. "And Allura's kiwis?"

"Or vice versa, if you'd prefer," Lance answered. "I have a big heart. I can love you, even though I loved her… and will always love her in a way. It doesn't cancel each other out. Falling in love with her didn't change that I'd already fallen for you."

"That you'd already fallen…" He let out a breath, some kind of weight lifting from him, "the rivalry stuff… that's from before we met Allura…" Oh, **God,** Lance's answer on that stupid game. Keith hadn't really thought about what it meant outside of the context of the question.

"Mmhmm," Lance smiled softly, "I fell for you, _then_ I met her and fell for her and I loved her- I did. I was sooo into her… but you… you're _you_... and you're like… a magnet for my heart. There's always been this… pull. I just had to let myself follow it for that stupid teenage crush to… turn into this. I love you. Big, deep, real deal, in love with you."

"I know that," he whispered, "I do. Most of the time I don't even think to question it… but… I just don't want you to think that I have some kind of… issue... with Allura… I guess. Like, I know I don't really measure up to what you had with her, and that's okay…"

"Hey, hey!" Lance tipped his face up so Keith could see his eyes- brows furrowed in obvious worry and something like angry flashing in the rich blue. "Don't you dare… don't you _dare_ say stuff like that! There is no 'measuring up'! That's not a thing that happens with us. Got it? That's not how love works, Keith. I was in love with her. I'm in love with you. She was water, you're oxygen. Different, but both things I need. Where is all this coming from, Keith?"

He sighed, Lance should know better than to expect him to be able to put something that nebulous into words. Unable to answer, he just shrugged, eyes darting away from Lance's gaze.

"Oh, Mullet… sometimes I forget I'm not the only one with baggage," Lance kissed him gently, "your answer… the true love thing… were you just trying to win the game and top my answer?"

"I wouldn't lie to win a game, Lance," he grumbled, "that's cheating."

"But now… what? You're thinking that can't be true because I loved Allura? That… what? You're the next best thing, since I can't be with her?" At Keith's small nod, Lance made a soft little noise and straddled him, settling into Keith's lap easily. "Not how it works, babe. You need to talk to Shiro more- or your Mom. Losing her changed me. That kind of loss, it's.. Transformative- there's a nice, big, therapist word for you. So, I'm not exactly who I was back then… and who I am _now_ is hopelessly in love with you. I know we haven't been together long, but I am absolutely certain of that. True love… that's not one-sided, or unbalanced, Keith. This love story of ours? It isn't one-sided, or unbalanced. If you _meant it_ when you said that, then it's the truth, because I mean it when I say this: you, Keith Kogane, are my true love."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, doofus," Lance kissed the tip of his nose.

"What about your answer?" he asked, surprising himself, "the one word one… were _you_ just trying to beat me?"

"Divine?" Lance smiled, playing with Keith's hair as his expression went soft and dreamy. "Sure, I wanted to win… but… that doesn't make it _less_ true. I love our first kiss. I love how it happened. I love that we both knew exactly what it meant- what we were saying with it. It felt… perfect… but that seemed so cheesy, and the word is like… overused, you know? So then I thought 'fairytale' but I figured you'd claim _that _was two words, too. So… 'divine'. It fit. I meant it. I mean, true love's kiss, right? That's definitely something that warrants being called divine. So. Yeah. Divine."

The words washed over Keith like a balm, and then they were kissing and Lance was laughing into it and Keith felt like he was holding joy itself in his arms. They tumbled back into the sheets in a tangle of limbs that made Kosmo flash away. By the time sleep finally claimed him, those little seeds of panic and doubt had been thoroughly smothered.


	4. Ch4 of 4-Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai

For all that the Blade of Marmora was notorious for compartmentalizing information, Keith had never seen them take it to the degree that Coran and Acxa had. He wasn't even completely positive that Kolivan knew all of the factors at play, and he was one hundred percent certain that he and Lance didn't.

That certainty stemmed, in part, from how hard he'd seen Pidge and Hunk working over the last two movements, even though he had absolutely no idea what they were working on. Romelle and Coran, or rather, holograms of Romelle and Coran had been bid a very conspicuous farewell several days prior… and one of the biggest challenges any of them had ever faced was keeping the exuberance that was Coran hidden from prying eyes on the ship. Keith had never seen Kolivan so exasperated, even though the Alteans were safely tucked away from prying eyes on the Houston.

The fifteen people in the line of communication that they'd identified as being compromised were all fed individualized information about the procedures that would be followed once Keith and Lance arrived on Jazolwa that varied in minute details. Those details each created a different 'weak point' in their security that would be too tempting not to exploit. Reassuringly, eight of the fifteen people responded within moments of the protocols being distributed to point out the security gaps. It didn't automatically _clear_ any of them, but it did increase the scrutiny on the others.

Once they all piled into the Houston, ready to land on the planet, and the airlock doors secured behind them, the tense silence was broken by Romelle's giggle. Before his eyes, his sister seemed to step _through_ the wall. "Good, right?" she grinned at him, simultaneously fistbumping Hunk and high fiving Lance. "I haven't done that since I was little and we'd play Questers! I was so corroded!"

"Rusty," Acxa laughed, "you were rusty, Romelle."

Blond eyebrows drew together as Romelle turned the phrase over in her mind. After a few ticks she nodded, her expression resolute, "yes. Rusty. Thank-you, Acxa!"

"You did quite well, my dear," Coran commented, peeling away from the wall opposite the one Romelle had been hiding on, making Pidge yelp and jump onto Kolivan's back. He sighed and Krolia had to cough _and_ turn away to hide her smile.

"Sorry," she said, dropping back to the floor lightly, "s'crowded in here."

"No apology required," he answered evenly, "you have quick reflexes- especially considering how sleep deprived you are right now."

Pidge grinned, something almost manic flashing in her eyes, "chocolate covered espresso beans, pixy sticks, and Galran battle-boost patches. Booyah!"

"Ohhhh-kay," Hunk let out a low whistle, "one anti-stim detox shot and a long nap on order for Katie Holt when we get back from the mission!"

"Were the battle boost patches really _required_?" Shiro asked, concern and skepticism in equal measure in his voice.

"You wanna take a guess at how many holographic nano-nets, closed circuit comms, and micro blasters I _designed _and _constructed_ with only Hunk for help in the last couple of weeks? You wanna try to wrap your head around the challenge of finding a way to make those micro blasters non-lethal and _still_ be able to stop a Galra in their tracks?" She got up in Shiro's face. She'd grown since their days as Paladins, but not by much and she was still wiry and slight- something that became very obvious when she went up on tiptoes and still had to crane her neck to face off against the former Black Paladin. "Or how about how many layers of stealth security I had to weave seamlessly into the fifteen unique intel packs that had to look identical to outside eyes? Hmmm, Shirogane? _Hmmmm?!_ Yeah. That's what I thought!" She threw her hands up in a movement so, so, so much like Lance that everyone chuckled, the tension dissolving.

"Dial it back, Holt," Shiro said levelly, "Coran? This is your baby."

"Righto! Everyone will be receiving the devices that Pidge mentioned. The nano-nets should not impede movement at all, we've tried them out and they are truly a beautiful bit of tech. Pidge should be very proud of the ingenuity- why I am sure that even my dear old Pop-Pop-"

"Coran…."

"Yes, of course, Shiro- not the time. Not the time… Yes. The closed circuit comms fit over your back tooth- it is very important that you position it properly. Regular comms won't pick up your real voice, so these are the only way to identify each other once the nano-nets engage. You've all been trained in the micro blasters, so I won't go over those." He twirled his moustache, rocking on his heels and puffing his chest as Acxa and Veronica passed out the tech. "Once we land, if you haven't already done so, engage the nano-nets to trigger your holographic cover. Romelle and I will be posing as Blades in full gear. We get 12 paces from the lip of the airlock and the decoy holoprojectors will malfunction, replicating a poor shift from ship's power to self-contained power…"

"First opening," Veronica breathed, flashing Lance a wobbly smile.

"The holoprojectors will shut off, and reveal the projection _under_ it- Keith and Lance." Acxa seemed to be calmer than Veronica, but Keith knew better. They had proven to be best at mimicking the way he and Lance moved and interacted (which… made sense, really) so they were the ones posing as the 'celebrated couple' as they exited the ship en masse… which meant that as soon as that projector 'failed' they'd be targets. He'd seen Acxa walk into heavy fire without a second thought more times than he could count, but he was quickly learning that it was a lot easier to face danger yourself than it was to know that the person you were in love with was at risk.

"And then Coran and I will pull you back into the ship," Romelle said. "Where we will be ready to blend into the walls and you will be ready with weapons if our mole has the intel about the poor ship security."

They ran through the rest of the plan together, each person speaking up to spell out their specific jobs as they all prepped up their tech. It was a lot. It was a lot, and it didn't even_ touch_ on the people who were monitoring who knew how many communication channels in real time for any indication of activity from the splinter cells, or running through personnel files and background checks for each and every person they crossed paths with. Not to mention whatever the heck they'd needed Matt's rebel contacts for! Keith was sure there were even more aspects to this mission that he wasn't aware of because it didn't have anything to do with what he needed to do in the moment.

One by one, familiar faces flickered and blinked, replaced by mirror images of him or Lance, which was eerie. "Closed circuit comms check," Hunk's voice came out of his own face, layered with the artificial 'Keith' voice that the nano-nets were generating and it was the weirdest thing Keith had experienced on this side of the astral plane.

A string of oddly doubled voices saying "check" worked its way through the ship.

"Matt, Ezor and Zethrid have the same tech and will be part of the planetary security that is handling transport from the landing site," Krolia said out of Lance's face, which Keith decided topped the Hunk thing. "They've devised their own best locations, so we aren't privy to where exactly they will be in the chain of responsibility, but they are there, and they have closed circuit comms so we'll know them when we hear them.

"Alright everyone, toggle your nets to your primary facade," instructed Pidge and everyone changed again. Keith looked like Shiro. Lance looked like Kolivan. Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, and Krolia looked like Blades in full gear, faces hidden by masks. Kolivan, comically, looked like Krolia. Tengrill and Lo'Kasil looked like Keith and Lance, but their illusion was designed to flicker and glitch almost imperceptibly, to further sell the idea that Veronica and Acxa were really Lance and Keith.

"We've got this, Cutie." Finger guns and that smirk was just so very _wrong_ on Kolivan's image and Keith sent up a small prayer of thanks that Lance still smelled like himself and that his real voice was coming through on the closed circuit comms, because his brain really might not have recovered from the whole thing otherwise.

"Don't call me cutie," he answered, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he still _had_ a right upper arm, even though it looked like his forearm was free floating. "Shiro, this is a really wild head trip!"

"It sure is," he answered, "from this side, too. That's really impressive work, Pidge."

Pidge's response was to blow onto her gloved fingers and rub the curled nails against her shoulder like she was shining something and then let out a little giggle. He was really hoping she wasn't too punch drunk to hold it together on the ground.

Krolia and Kolivan headed to the cockpit and Keith took a deep breath, mentally shifting gears for the mission. Conversation died and everyone double and triple checked their armor, weapons and tech. Friends and family morphed into a highly trained (mostly- Romelle was kind of a wildcard) group of professionals and warriors in a shift almost as jarring as the face-swapping effects of the nano-nets. Kosmo rubbed against his leg, as if he could tell he needed the encouragement.

We've got this.

We've got this.

We've got this and then the whole mess will be over.

* * *

Slav, Keith was sure, would hate this plan. Well, more than he hated most plans… he kind of hated anything he didn't come up with himself. But this was the least streamlined plan Keith had ever seen for something that involved less than twenty people. He had faith in Acxa, and Coran's strategizing had been vital to Voltron… but almost everyone in the universe that he cared about was putting themselves in harm's way to flush out the people who were intent on hurting him and/or Lance and it had him on edge.

He tried to soothe his rattled nerves by running through all of the things that had worked perfectly already. The little misdirect with the fake hologram malfunction had been seamless, peeling Coran, Romelle, Veronica and Acxa from the group and leaving them to apprehend anyone who might try to plant a bomb or otherwise tamper with the Houston.

From there, Pidge and Hunk had taken over the roles of Keith and Lance, the nano-nets also projecting replacement Blades to make up the difference in their numbers. They'd been herded into a covered transport, one of the PDP- the Planetary Defense Personnel- hopping into the boxy vehicle with them. Pidge as Lance bounced and fidgetted in the narrow seat, chatting amiably with Hunk as Keith, and the Jazo operative kept staring, its eyestalks stretching out in curiosity as it adjusted its grip on the purpley baton it carried.

Keith had been about to make some Shiro-like comment about 'Lance's' high energy levels, when the lime green alien turned to him and said, "she better just be in character and not _actually_ as high as she seems."

"Matt?!"

Making a little half-bow, he continued, "because I know she's a badass and she's all grown up but she's still my baby sister and I don't want to have to explain to my Mom that she went to space and came back a cokehead or something."

"Hi Matt!" the aforementioned baby sister said enthusiastically. "The tech works! Woot!"

"Woot." Matt's voice was dry; deapan, even. "Mid-mission. Woot." He lifted his free hand, pointing two fingers at the base of the alien eyestalks, which must have been where Matt's actual eyes were, and then turning his hand so the v of his fingers were pointing at a spot slightly above Keith's head where 'Shiro's' eyes appeared to be. "Woot."

"It's lack of sleep and a battle boost patch… non-addictive," Keith said, "she's fine when she has something to focus on, and we've already addressed it- she's going right to bed when we get back."

"I'm feeding her first," Hunk supplied and Keith didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing his own visage interacting with people from the outside. "Then sleep."

"Stop being such a worrywort," grumbled Pidge. "I've got this." It was almost spooky how much like younger-Lance Pidge acted when she was sleep-deprived.

"She better got this," Matt muttered, "oh, hey- congrats on the engagement… 'bout time you two smartened up."

"It's not-"

"Thanks, Matt," Lance said over him and once again he was left wondering why the hell Lance ended up looking like Kolivan of all people. "We're pretty excited… uh… other than all the drama, I mean."

"It's worth the drama to see them so happy," Krolia said beside him, patting his knee. At least she sounded fully like herself, since she was in full Blades gear and didn't have a 'disguised voice'.

There was a crackle and Matt lifted his hand, listening. "We're about to reach the tunnel." The tunnel was the next artificially created vulnerability, so everyone settled down, preparing themselves to be on high alert.

"This is where we part. I'll see you back at the Houston, Kitling." Beside him, Krolia adjusted her suit and stretched out on the floor behind the partition for the driver. Once she was properly positioned, she completely vanished, the nano-net projecting the image of the empty floor. Even her weapon was practically invisible, allowing her to provide cover should they need it.

Keith activated the next projection file and the image of his mother in her gear appeared beside him.

One by one they went through each 'potential action site' without incident. Any location that carried the risk of tampering with vehicles they'd be making use of again, or explosives being planted behind them to catch them on the return trip had at least one person staying behind. Every time the group lost a person, another projection was activated. Gradually, they gained allies among the mostly unknown PDP in Matt, Zethrid and Ezor as they made their way to their accommodations. The idea was to keep them well covered, with the illusion of a substantial protective detail and if they had to retreat, everyone would trigger their nano-nets to look like either Keith or Lance to create confusion. Then, they would be gaining fresh, rested people along the way, while whoever was giving chase would not. In theory.

It was pretty much guaranteed that the splinter cell would make some kind of attempt during this excursion. They'd officially pulled out of all of the other stops in their public itinerary after Yorak had been injured, with the exception of this and one other, and that was a former rebellion base with incredible security and low Galra presence. If the mole believed the information they got was standard issue and the same for everyone in the line of communication, then it would be beyond stupid _not_ to make a play. There were only two scenarios where they wouldn't- either the terrorists had given up, or the mole spotted the trap. The former was so unlikely as to be downright comical, the latter possible, but unlikely given that it was Pidge who was in charge of information dissemination.

Hell, until they'd _all_ been onboard the Houston with no access to outside transmissions, as far as he could tell, no one even knew the full plan for _their group_, or even the entirety of the route they'd be taking from the ship to their accommodations except for Coran and Acxa.

They were almost to the very small reception by select Jazol government officials; down to only seven of their original party- him and Lance, Pidge and Hunk still disguised at them, Kosmo, and Tengrill and Lo'Kasil- when the comms crackled to life. Matt, Zethrid, and Ezor had gone ahead to do one final security sweep of the rest of small hotel that was serving as reception hall and recording studio, leaving the six of them, plus Kosmo and their passel of holographic projections to wait.

"Someone is attempting to gain access to the Houston," Veronica's voice whispered over the line.

"Track that data packet," Coran ordered to someone back on the cruiser. Keith wasn't part of that closed circuit network, so he couldn't hear any of the responses to Coran's orders. Lance grabbed his hand and he hung on tight. This might all be over in a few doboshes.

It might be over without anyone else getting hurt.

"We've got a compromised point of ingress near the reception hall," Ezor added.

"Track it!" snapped Coran.

"Shit!" It wasn't often that Shiro cursed, but he was pretty much equidistant from both threats- essentially helpless- and with Keith at risk at one end, and both Acxa and Romelle at the other, that meant all three of the people he considered siblings were in danger at once.

"Everything is going to be fine," he heard himself saying. "We've got this."

"Found an unconscious staffer," Matt added, "time to split the package!"

There was a sudden burst of motion and his hand was wrenched out of Lance's- Hunk, Tengrill, and Lance exiting one end of the room, while he, Lo'Kasil and Pidge went out the other. They were headed to the same place, just via different routes.

"Taking fire!" Acxa's voice was low and serious, but he could hear fear around the edges.

"Assume that the intruder has holographic tech," Zethrid sounded frustrated.

"Second staffer out of commission!"

"Do not enter the transports until we rendezvous," barked Matt. "Repeat! Stay out of the vehicles!"

"I need names!" Coran hissed. "Tell me the instant you have the situation in hand!"

"**Veronica!**"

"I'm fine!" Lance's sister sounded pained, but her voice was strong, "just a graze! Sniper in the trees!"

"I'm coming to you!" Shiro insisted, "I need Kosmo!"

"Kosmo… right…" He stumbled to a stop in the weirdly lit service corridor they were taking to the parkade that held their transports, crouching down to ruffle Kosmo's fur, "Shiro needs you, buddy. I'm okay. Go to him." The air sizzled and the space wolf blinked out of sight.

"Shots fired in the reception room!"

"On it! Zethrid and Ezor, you keep looking for others, I'll deal with the reception room."

"This is turning into a shit show," Pidge muttered, "watch your back, Matt!"

"We've got this, Pidge," Lance was quick to assure, "this is the part where we circle the wagons. No one hurts our family..."

"...not if we have any say in it," Pidge finished for him, making Keith wonder if this was some kind of _thing_ for the two of them that he'd missed out on.

"Coran? Any word from on high?" Bless Hunk for shifting the focus away from what might go wrong.

"We have one solution. Individual named La'Hukit- still waiting on the second."

Keith let out a tense breath, ducking through the door Lo'Kasil was holding open for him, Pidge right on his heels. The damp, oily smell of the Parkade hit him and for a tick it was the best thing he'd ever smelled in his life. Somewhere in the dim labyrinth of columns and partial walls sat their motorcade thing and even though they weren't going to load up without the okay, for some reason, knowing it was so close was calming him down.

Sounds echoed weirdly here, so that might have been why Pidge's "quiznak" seemed so loud. He spun, fearing she'd been hurt. "Lock's busted," she explained, pulling out a little tool kit, still looking like Lance and flanked by a pair of virtual Blades. "Go. Get him secure. I've got this. Won't take more than five doboshes to fix."

"Pidge, it's fine- we can't get into the transports yet, anyway..."

"I said **Get. Him. Secure!**" she snarled. Lo'Kasil grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away before he could say anything else.

"We are secure," Tengrill said over the line, "waiting on the go ahead to proceed."

"Matt? Ezor? Zethrid?" Hunk was as little winded, but otherwise sounded calm.

"Shooter down," Matt said proudly.

"Still securing rooms- standby."

"Same for me," Ezor echoed her wife.

"Shiro?" His voice was quiet, because he suddenly realized he hadn't heard anything from his brother since Kosmo left.

"I'm fine. I'm fine… just… pressure bandage!"

"Got it. Got it… come on Romy!"

"_WHAT?!_" His heart froze in his chest.

"It's okay, Keith," Romelle sounded drowsy, "just a little cut…"

"She'll be fine," Veronica cut in, "it's a laceration. It's bleeding a lot, but we've got it in hand."

"I don'like bloo…"

"She fainted," Acxa yelped, "just a faint. She just looked at the blood and dropped. We're good here. Ship is secure. Repeat. Houston is secure."

"Those sedative pellets work like magic, Pidge," Matt added. "This guy is bigger than Kolivan, but still less than a tick from shot to drop!"

"Yes! These micro blasters are ingenious!"

"Good… but… Kinda busy right now," Pidge snapped.

Lo'Kasil pushed him into a low crouch in the little hollow that had been decided was their fallback point and stood beside him, obscuring any line of targeting. Because he knew exactly where to look, Keith could only just make out the shadows that told him that Lance, Hunk, and Tengrill were indeed in position. He let his eyes drift shut for a moment, "status checks, everybody, in order. He took comfort from every beloved voice that answered with 'safe' or 'secure', letting the words bolster his confidence. Even the 'pending' answers were reassuring- if a tad brusque.

"I'm good, Keith," Romelle added, "sorry for scaring you."

Before he could even reply, his mother's voice cut through the line, "oh thank **fuck**! Romy, this is officially your _first and last mission_!"

"Agreed!" echoed Keith, speaking at the same time as both Acxa and Shiro.

"She did well, really," Veronica cut in, "we were lucky she was here."

"We have the second name," Coran said and all the chatter died. "Individual named Churrla. Hold on… there's…"

"Oh, holy crow that's a relief," Hunk let out a sigh, "you must be in your glee, Lance!"

"Yeah… uh-huh… of course…" Lance sounded off, distracted… or worried, maybe?

"Lan-"

"Oh dear!" Coran said loudly, "we have a casualty. The mole…"

"Victory or death," whispered Lo'Kasil beside him, sadness flooding his voice, "it's the Galra way…"

"Shit! Churrla! **KEITH!**" Lance screamed so loud that Keith flinched back into the corner, back pressing tight against the wall like he could escape the noise.

Everything seemed to slow down.

One pop and a puff of dust bloomed out of the wall. Keith recognized the familiar little red sedative pellet that was embedded right where he'd been a fraction of a tick earlier.

He caught movement in the corner of his eye and turned his head, unable to move anything else. Lo'Kasil's face was contorted in rage and pain. His hand swung, micro blaster pointed right at Keith's face.

iChurrla… Gengen pie on special occasions. His mate.

A cluster of pops and blood bloomed on Lo'Kasil's jaw, staining the pale purple fur in a few different spots.

Two more pops.

His hand felt like it was on fire.

"KEITH!"

His eyes felt like lead. "Lannnnn…"

* * *

Two things registered before anything else. The first was the scent of Lance's skin and shampoo filling his nose. The second was the soft fur his hand was buried in. Bit by bit, the rest of reality filled itself in. The weight of Lance draped over him. The familiar warmth of Kosmo pressed against his side. The low din of hushed voices in conversation. His Grekagan angora blanket tucked up against his face. The awful taste in his mouth and fuzzy tongue feeling that he remembered having before, but couldn't place. The itchy bandage on the hand that was resting on Lance's hip. Another on his forearm. The blinding headache.

"Hey… he's waking up… Keith?"

"Mmrrmmmph…" Turning his head, he cracked his eyes open and flinched from the sudden brightness.

"The lights! Dim the lights!"

"On it!"

"Mom?" A warm hand lifted his own from Kosmo's fur, and held it gently.

"Hi Kitling," Krolia whispered, "you're fine. Lance is fine. You've just been sleeping."

Oh. Good. Sleeping was good. Being fine was good. "Kay," he answered, making a face at how hard it was to talk. There was some rustling and he felt a straw tickling at his lip.

"Just water. Go ahead and drink." Oh. That had been Shiro. He sipped, trying to piece together why his mother and Shiro would be hanging around while he slept. Had he fallen asleep on the couch? God, he was sooooo thirsty!

"Keith?" That was Lance, and he was moving around, trying to roll away from his spot on Keith's chest. Growling, he tightened his arm around his boyfriend. He liked him right where he was. "Keith… Cutie… I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He felt Lance brush his hair back from his face and he smiled, relaxing again. "You gotta wake up the rest of the way, Cutie. Come on…"

"Don'..." he cleared his throat, "don'call me cutie…" There was a laugh and he felt the hot little kisses Lance peppered over his face like little stars of light. "Ugh… m'head…" He hadn't had a headache like this since that one time he tried out the Battle Booooooo- Oh God!

Everything came back to him in a rush and suddenly his fuzzy head cleared and things clicked into place.

"You're okay," he breathed, hugging Lance to him. "Romelle? Veronica? Were there any other injuries? What happened to Lo'Kasil? How long was I out?"

"Yup, he's definitely awake," chuckled Shiro. "Everyone is fine. Romelle and Veronica just needed a little patching up. You've been 'out' for a few varga. You needed to be treated for an overdose of the sedative in the micro blaster, but Pidge was quick to hit you with a couple of those boost patches when your pulse got too slow."

"Same with Lo'Kasil," Lance said, "he was treated for overdose, but he's fine. Physically, anyway."

"Churrla… was…"

"His mate, yeah. I knew I recognized the name when I heard it."

"You… wait… _you_ shot him! How?! That was too far for the micro blasters…"

"He still had my blaster," Krolia said, "from after the meeting that quintant."

"But…"

"Babe- do you really think I was going out in the field with _only_ that little pea shooter? I'm a sniper. I loaded up the blaster with those pellets before we even got on the Houston."

"You saved me…"

Lance shrugged, "you've saved me a ton of times. Good team, remember?"

"You'll be pleased to know that not only have we identified the moles, there is good reason to expect that the intel gathered will allow us to completely neutralize that splinter cell." Shiro patted his knee through the blanket, gently.

"That's great," he nodded for emphasis and flinched.

"Okay- that's our sign to leave." His mother leaned over and kissed his forehead, "I'll give the girls your love. Get some rest to rid yourself of the headache. We've got time before we land on Daibazaal."

"We're close, if you need us," added Shiro, catching his hand and holding it tight for a tick, "come on Kosmo, let's go find you a treat."

He heard the door slide shut behind them and sighed when Lance shifted and there was a little click that told him the lights were out. "I can go, too… if you want," Lance offered.

"Nuh-uh." He rolled onto his side, taking Lance with him, "you stay."

"Anything you want," Lance answered, curling into his chest and lifting his hand to play with Keith's hair.

"Just want that nightmare to be over," he cracked one eye to peek down at Lance, "and for the record, the nightmare is the death threat mess. _Not_ being with you."

Lance shook with a soft, silent laugh, "yeah, I figured that out already. Forgive me for being a teensy bit insecure literally one day into our relationship!"

"Okay. You're forgiven." They smiled at each other and Keith couldn't help but sigh at how perfectly Lance fit in his arms. "Mom said something about Daibazaal?"

"Mmhmm… we sent regrets to the base, but just in case there are any stragglers wanting to make one last try for us, we decided it was best to get to Daibazaal well ahead of schedule. Everyone is pretty confident that once we complete the ceremony, following through on the threat would do more to garner loyalty to us than to swing any support for the racist assholes."

"So… we're doing the ceremony _today_?"

"Oh yeah… Ready to 'Present Your Beloved'?" Lance grinned at him, the marks on his cheeks glowing in the low light.

"Are you?"

"Uhh… have you not been paying attention in those interviews we've been doing? I am 100% on board with all this stuff. More than ready. Can't wait to live our love story. Bring on the Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai! Tell the whole universe that we are together, and someday, when **we** are ready, we plan to make it all legal and traditional and stuff. Foster-adopt three siblings. Have a space wolf and maybe a cat. All that domestic shit… but not until we get our fill of life out here, exploring and travelling and building a new peace. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait."

"God, you are amazing," Keith sighed, leaning in to kiss Lance softly. "I am so ready."

* * *

Daibazaal was a beautiful planet. It really was. Keith loved it here. He loved the sky, the taste of the air, the plants, and the animals. The history and architecture and the culture and so many other things.

He did _not_ love the level of celebrity he had here. When he'd planned the trip, he'd hoped to be able to take a few quintants to show Lance around the wilder, less crowded spaces before they gave their talks at the Universi- oh, crap… he really hoped that Lance had remembered to reach out to the University when things went nuts, because he absolutely had not.

Instead, they arrived almost surreptitiously, trying to avoid notice of any sympathizers of the terrorists that could still pose a threat. The cruiser had stayed in orbit, most of their loved ones watching over them from space. Keeping them safe while they went through with this ancient tradition… and given that both Hunk and Romelle were on board, probably also planning some kind of party for their return. Keith found himself actually kind of looking forward to that possibility.

Kolivan had found them a location (that was *not* the University, but still met the requirements of 'a place of wisdom and esteem') that welcomed them with open arms and ensconced them in separate rooms to prepare.

He was nervous.

It was silly for him to be nervous- the only people who'd be there were people he knew and trusted. People who loved him. But, here he was, with Acxa fiddling with his hair and Krolia and Shiro milling around and offering words of encouragement, a bundle of nerves.

"This is stupid," he muttered.

"Don't let Lance hear you say that," his mother chuckled, "I think he's looking forward to it."

"He's definitely looking forward to it," Acxa corrected, "this actually means a lot to him."

"No- I meant me being nervous is stupid," he grumbled. Of course Acxa's commented didn't really _help_ with his nerves.

"Of course you are nervous, making things official is kind of nerve wracking, and now you aren't distracted by the whole media circus thing, so it feels real. Instead of like a role you are playing," Shiro rubbed the back of his neck, the gesture familiar and reassuring, "and you've always been a disaster when it comes to Lance."

"Yeah… _thanks for that, Takashi,_" he glared at his brother.

"Okay, I'm done!" Acxa snapped a picture on her phone and showed it to him. She'd pulled his bangs back from his face in three braids that rested on top of the rest of his hair. She'd woven little red and blue flowers and some kind of sparkling thread into the braids. "You like?"

"I have flowers in my hair," he observed, stunned.

"Yeah. Gilvrin blossoms for purity of intent, and Jocha vines for far-reaching love. They're traditional for a Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai, Keith… and the threads represent the lines of lovers that created you. Did you do _any_ research?"

"Me? Noooo… but Lance did. I thought he'd told me everything."

"Was he, by chance, _naked_ during any of these discussions?" Shiro snickered. Keith's face went so scarlet, so fast that it actually hurt. "Yeah- I've seen your focus disintegrate at the _beach_ with Lance shirtless, so… that makes sense."

"Oh my God, _shut **up** Shiro!_" Why had Shiro said that in front of his Mom? Just, kill him now. "It looks good, Acxa. Thank-you."

"Okay, hair is done, time to change your clothes. This was a gift from the Palik'Ta'Enpar." His mother held out a shallow box, smiling sheepishly. "You don't have to wear it, but… we don't really have access to the traditional Galran garb on such short notice. It's Mallinox leather from a beast you killed, cured in a special process that… not important. What's important is that you can wear something you already own, or this. Either is fine."

"Well, there's also the thing from Coran," Shiro added with far too bright a smile.

"Yeah- don't trust that look. I'll wear this." He took the box, "thanks, Mom. I can… take over from here. You guys go get ready."

There was a flurry of hugs and cheek kisses and a rather comical moment when Shiro lifted his hand to muss his hair and had to dramatically abort mission at the last tick when he remembered the braids. Before he knew it he was alone in the room.

His phone chimed and he pulled up the message, which was from Lance.

'I can hear you thinking from here. Chill. It's just us. Just a new chapter in our love story. We got this.'

He smiled, touched that Lance reached out to reassure him. The phone chimed again.

'I needed to hear that, so I figured you did, too. Love you, Cutie.'

That made him laugh, outloud, his nerves melting away like they'd never even existed in the first place. He tapped out a reply, 'dont call me cutie love you too see you soon', and set the phone aside. All he had to do was get dressed and go meet Lance. Easy. Still smiling, he lifted the lid to the box, expecting to see the same pale grey garments they'd worn for the dinner.

Oh.

Oh wow.

Impossibly soft fabric filled his hands and he got choked up as he read the little note:

_Former Black Paladin, and Honored Blade of Marmora Keith Kogane, of Earth and Daibazaal,_

_Terrible with names, I may well be, but I recognize deep love when I see it and I was thoroughly charmed by our conversation. Please accept these gifts and know they come with admiration and well wishes for you both. May your friendship continue to be the cornerstone of your life with your mate. May your hearts always remain so well matched. I hope someday to have the opportunity to visit with you both again._

_Sincerely,_

_His Reverence, Vanzir, High Cleric of the Palik'Ta'Enpar._

Not a simple grey, this time. Keith knew that blue- the exact color of the water at Varadero before a storm; that brown-the way it had gleamed and glowed like sculptures; the paler, brighter blue that lit up when Lance laughed; the bright flashes of white teeth in a wide grin; and the touches of the sandier brown that looked so good on his pillow and tucked up on his shoulder. The colors of Lance, softly shifting and blending together as the fabric moved in his hands. He had no idea how the colors changed and moved like that- it shouldn't be possible.

The box also held the little chains he would need to secure the garment at the hips and ankles, and more fabric- meant to fall from the shoulders, based on the clasps attached to it.

He was so glad he chose this instead of whatever it was that Shiro had found so humorous!

* * *

He made it to the little courtyard before Lance did and he took a moment to just take in the beauty of the place. The sky stretched out above him, stars twinkling like diamonds on velvet, and he smiled to think that, in a way, everyone on the cruiser was watching over them.

The low walls and tall columns that ringed the courtyard were covered in twisting vines that had pale pink and yellow blossoms that glowed softly and someone had hung lanterns on some of the columns that added warm light to the soft glow. There was a fountain in the center of the courtyard, sculptures of four Galra holding large pitchers supporting a wide basin that held pinkish-purple flames that were bright, but somehow didn't cast much light. Water trickled pleasingly out of each of the pitchers, creating an atmosphere of calm. Beside the fountain sat two large cushions that looked to be made out of some kind of very long fur.

The night was warm, and the courtyard was sheltered enough to protect them from anything milder than a strong wind. Once upon a time, he wouldn't have believed that anything Galra could be this beautiful and peaceful and safe. Once upon a time, he didn't believe in miracles. He knew better now.

He heard footsteps and turned, so he got to see Lance step out of the shadows of the entrance and he was so. fucking. glad. for. that! Because, as long as he lived, he would never, ever forget the vision that was Lance when he stepped into that soft light!

"For a second, I actually thought I might have gotten ready before you for a change," Lance laughed, fidgeting nervously, "guess not. Have you been waiting long?"

"You look…" he breathed, unable to get past what he was seeing. He'd kind of expected the color scheme of Lance's clothes, once he'd seen his own- but he had no idea how incredible it would look on him. He could identify his own hair, his own skin tone, the color of his eyes, even the exact shade of the scar so many people mistook as a Galra mark, swirling and shifting through the fabric. It was dramatic and striking, where his own garment was soothing, almost hypnotic in its gentle shifts. Somehow, it seemed to suit Lance perfectly- and the low swoop of the neckline that showcased his broad shoulders and strong chest, the bared arms, the glimpses of long legs and narrow hips as he moved just made him even more breathtaking.

His hair was too short for braids, but the same flowers and threads that Acxa had woven into Keith hair had been twisted into a flower crown that sat low on his forehead, some of that unruly brown hair already starting to curl around it. His smile was surprisingly shy, but the way the marks on his cheeks glowed proved it was genuine.

Falling to the ground behind him was a wide swath of fabric held in place by the shoulder clasps that secured the jumpsuit thing. It seemed to be identical to Keith's- at first glance it looked to be simply black. The longer you gazed at it, though, the more details revealed themselves. Within a moment or two, colors and light appeared and slowly, galaxies burst into being, spiraled out, and then flickered into nothingness one sparkling star at a time.

"You gonna finish that sentence?" Lance asked, more confident now.

"Huh?"

Lance laughed, shaking his head at him, "you said 'you look…' and then just… stopped. I'm guessing it was a compliment, because… I _can_ see your face, babe."

"I… don't think that words actually exist to describe…" He gestured helplessly, "all that… wow. Lance… how are you real?"

"You're asking _me_ that?" He shook his head, the flower crown getting dislodged and tipping slightly. Closing the short distance between them, Lance caught his unbandaged hand, "you look like something out of a dream. A very, very, very good dream… I like the braids."

"The braids?" Oh. Right. Acxa had put his hair in braids. "Mmhmmm… okay," he nodded, "I tried… the bandages… I tried to get rid of them."

"You tried?"

"Mom and Shiro didn't like that plan. Like, at all."

The smile on Lance's face could have stopped a war. Keith was sure of it. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. But why did you try to get rid of them?"

He shrugged, "they're ugly? I don't like them?"

"Keith," Lance sighed, cupping his jaw, "you got shot. Today. Your arm is burnt from those patches. Let the bandages do their job. I didn't even see them."

"I'm allergic." He traced Lance's collarbone with the tips of his fingers, watching the gooseflesh that bloomed in the wake of his touch.

"Hmmm?"

"The patches. I'm allergic- mild but.. Yeah… God, you look amazing… and you smell so good…"

"We should… the thing… the… umm… Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai…"

"Mmhmm… we should…"

"One kiss first though…" He moved closer, fingers sliding into Keith's hair, cradling the back of his head gently. "Feel like I'm gonna die if I don't kiss you…"

"Yeah…" Their lips brushed together and someone sighed and someone else made a sound that might have been a whimper and Keith was too caught up in the need of it all to be able to tell which was which. He craned into the soft touch, a shiver rolling through him. His arm wrapped around the small of Lance's back, yanking him even closer, needing to feel that body fit up against his own.

Teeth caught his lip and tugged and when he gasped, Lance changed the angle of his head and let go of his lip. Slotting their mouths together, he licked into Keith's mouth and they both groaned. The kiss ignited, everything they'd been through that day boiling up through them and fueling a need to connect. It flared bright and intense and fast, and it was only a couple of moments later when they pulled back, but they were both breathless and giddy with the rush of it.

"Wow," Lance whispered shakily, "definitely gonna follow up on _that_ later."

"When you are my betrothed?" Keith teased, suddenly very excited about the prospect.

"Yeah," Lance answered, smiling brightly, "when I'm your betrothed. Ready?"

"Ready." He stepped back, because him getting distracted and kissing Lance again was a real danger. "What do we do?"

"We sit," chuckled Lance, "facing each other. Then we hold hands and we… think."

"We think?" Keith let Lance lead him over to the pillows and they both sat, which took a little fiddling because of what they were wearing.

"Yeah, doofus… we think. Specifically, we reflect on… us… I guess. How we met, how we got close, got together, what we mean to each other… the life we want to share… All that high school daydream stuff."

"Your high school daydreams were _very_ different from mine," he observed wryly. "Mine were like: being a pilot, having my own place, sex… sex was heavily featured."

"Oh my God, Keith!"

"I'm just saying- it was high school. High school was a horny time." He shrugged, "I didn't think I was… the exception… in that."

"Not the time to be discussing that, Cutie," Lance muttered shaking his head. "Serious. Grown up stuff right now. Us. How we got here. Where we want to go from here."

"Don't call me cutie. Okay. Right. So, we think… about all that stuff. Until?"

"Umm… my research says that we'll know. There's a sign or something… and then the others come in, and we repeat some stuff and we're done. What is this place, anyway?"

"Um… this is... The Library of Marmora. Where the Blades started."

"Really? Wow… Knowledge or death- makes more sense now. Fitting. It's beautiful. So? Think, sign, repeat stuff, done. Got it?"

"Mmmhmmm… seems simple enough. No talking?"

"Well, mostly no… but we're supposed to like ask questions if the answer might make us change our minds…" He trailed his thumb over the back of Keith's hand, his expression soft, "and if there's something we feel like… needs to be said. Something _emotional_, not something horny- just to be clear."

"Yeah, I figured," he muttered, "but, for the record- when it comes to you, it can definitely be both at the same time."

"Keeeeith!" His voice was exasperated, but Keith could see the smile he was fighting and the shake in his shoulders that betrayed the laugh he was holding back. He looked so _happy_, and for so long, that had been missing. Lance, happy was his favorite thing in the world.

"I love you," he whispered, letting all that love and awe that was swelling in him spill over into his voice. "Let's start."

The marks on Lance's cheeks flickered and he nodded. They settled into an easy quiet, letting the sound of the fountain fill the air. It was hard to believe this was really happening. They'd been so caught up in _getting_ here that Keith hadn't really thought much about what would happen when they _did_. Now, he was sitting across from Lance in this courtyard following a tradition that his mother's people had been doing since before humans had written language (he thought... History wasn't his strength). When they left this courtyard, Lance would be his betrothed. Not exactly the pace he ever would have expected, but he wasn't nearly as panicked and overwhelmed as he kind of felt like he was _supposed_ to be so soon after getting together. It felt… right. Natural. Like he was exactly where he should be, sitting across from the only person he could be- like every decision in his life had brought him here. Now.

Kismet.

Lance was his heart's match. Lance was _his_ match. They weren't really all that different, but the ways they were different balanced each other out. They kept each other from going too far in one direction or the other. Lance had his back, but he didn't stifle him. Even with the press and the looming threat, the time that he'd been with Lance was the happiest he'd ever been. He could be sappy with Lance and not worry about being mocked for it or ever having it thrown back in his face. He could be playful and silly. He could be quiet. Whatever his mood, Lance found a way to fit into his life.

He hoped that the same was true for Lance. That he could be… at ease, with Keith. He didn't like the thought that Lance was… stifling himself to accommodate Keith's moodiness. "Lance?"

"Mm?" Their eyes met and Lance smiled at him, soothing some of those jangly nerves with just a look.

"I don't want you to think you have to… tone yourself down because I'm… umm…"

"Moody?"

"Yeah… I guess that's the right word. I want… you to be comfortable being yourself with me. Do you?"

"Like, do I stay quiet about stuff that bugs me, or pretend to like stuff I don't, or defer to what you want to be doing because I don't want to start a fight?"

"Yeah… but even like… when you don't think it will start a fight. Like, if you want to watch a movie and I want to read… I want you to still watch your movie. I don't want you to give things up because of me. I don't want you to… not be _you_... God, I suck at words. Am I even making any sense?"

"You don't suck at words… or maybe you do but I just know you well enough to get the point. No, Keith, I don't ever feel like I can't be myself with you. I don't think we always have to be on the exact same page… we can do different stuff because we are in different moods. We're stronger than that. I am the most _me_ with you. Why?"

"I was just… I was thinking how much it means to me that I can just _be_ with you… like when I'm by myself, but better… and I wanted to make sure you felt… like that."

"Yeah. I do. I feel safe with you."

Pleased, Keith smiled, lifting their joined hands to press a kiss to Lance's knuckles. They went quiet again and Keith thought about how nice it was to be able to do this. He liked this tradition. It made so much more sense than a lot of human traditions that couples did. It was so simple- sit, think, together- but it felt magical and special and… sacred, almost. He let his mind drift, trying to imagine what things would be like after they left here. Lance had made comments about joining him in space, but he didn't want Lance to give up the things that were important to him, so he made a mental note to make sure that if he did… Keith would make a point to ensure that they spent plenty of time on Earth.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how everyone jokes about how extra I am?"

"Mmmhmm…"

"Just… if you ever feel like… I'm… too much work… you can tell me. I won't get offended. I know I'm… a lot. It's okay."

"Too much… work?"

"Yeah, like… too intense, or too loud, or too needy… like- I get it. I've been hearing it my whole life. I'm… I'm just… a lot. I know that."

"You're not _work_," he answered, torn between anger at the people that taught Lance that he was… some kind of burden, and heartache that Lance _believed_ them. "Loving you isn't effort. Being with you isn't something I have to _do_. You are…" Keith paused, trying to find the right words to describe the man he loved. "You are powerful. Like… a surge, you know? Like… umm… water! Yes! Perfect. Lance- you are like _the tide._ You are powerful and intense, and some people might find that scary or whatever- but that's because they can't be bothered to _learn you_! You make so much possible just by being you. You lift people up, you carry them away with you. You are so… vital and vibrant and important. You can never be too much or not enough- you are just… perfectly _you_, you know?"

"I'm the tide?" There was something strange about Lance's voice and Keith worried that he'd said the wrong thing, somehow… but it just made _so much sense_s to him.

"Yes. The tide. You're the tide."

"You think I'm the tide," he breathed, "that's… God, Keith… that's… **Holy Crow!** Keith! Look!" Dropping one of Keith's hands, Lance pointed at the fountain. Keith twisted, his gaze following the line of Lance's arm to the…

_Holy Crow!_

The flame in the basin atop the fountain blazed a bright, bright purple, like neon lights. While they watched it pulsed and churned, the color shifting and the flames dwindling down for a beat. There was a soft hum, almost musical, and Keith could smell ozone.

"We'll know," whispered Lance, hanging on to Keith in a death's grip and yelping when that hum cracked and a beam of pure, white light shot up into the sky. Before their eyes, the night retreated, the sky above the courtyard taking on the vibrant hues of sunset.

"Holy shit!" Keith gasped, "I'm pretty sure that's our fucking sign!"

They stared at each other for a tick before collapsing into a giddy hug, "we did that! That's… amazing! Look, Cutie! Just… Look at that!"

"It's… beautiful! Lance, my God, that's so beautiful!"

They clung to each other and stared at the light with tears in their eyes, until they heard the others arrive. Veronica and Acxa pulled them to their feet and then Keith lost count of the hugs he got pulled into.

"Remarkable! Truly remarkable!" Coran crowed, clapping them a little too hard on the back.

"We are soooooo doing this, hun!" Veronica sighed, awe lacing her voice.

"Shall we continue?" Krolia asked, and he'd never seen his mother look so happy, "let these soulmates make their promises so we can go celebrate?"

"Soulmates? What?!" Lance asked, clutching his hand tightly.

"Did you think that was the typical reaction?" Coran boomed, "oh no, my boys, oh no! The flame will always _change_, but it can change in any number of ways… This is… rare. Special. Kra'Pau Zol… translated roughly… it means…"

"Twin flame," Krolia finished for him. "It means twin flame."

"That's an Earth term," observed Shiro, "another word for soulmates. You guys are soulmates!"

"I think.. That's a good sign," laughed Lance, catching Keith around the waist and spinning with him. "Oh my God, I love you. I love you so much, Keith. So much."

Keith couldn't even string words together. He was so overwhelmed with emotion. All he could do was laugh and cry and kiss Lance- his soulmate- as tears streaked down his face.

"I have no idea about what tradition says about recording this… but if I don't get at least some pictures, my family will _kill_ me," he thought he heard Veronica say, but it didn't really register.

"Soulmate," Lance whispered into the kiss, "you're my soulmate. You're my… vows!" His head snapped up, "there are vows! Keith! Cutie! We have to say vows! Come on!"

Krolia and Shiro moved them around until they were where they were supposed to be standing, because neither of them were really with it enough to move on their own. They folded Keith's and Lance's hands together and stepped back. Ringed by their friends and family, clinging to each other, a mess of tears and laughter, he and Lance managed to calm themselves enough to follow the simple instructions of 'repeat after me'.

"I pledge to reach for you first and always," said Coran, and they repeated it.

"I pledge to be true in my words and my actions, to treat you always as my closest ally," said Acxa, and they repeated it.

"I pledge to watch over you, to be your shield and your sword when danger arises," said Shiro, sounding suspiciously like he was crying, himself, and they repeated it.

"I pledge to make my home with you," said Veronica, and they repeated it.

"I pledge that all my journeys will start and end in your arms," said Krolia, and they repeated it.

"I pledge to treat this troth as precious and true, to behave with honor and courage, and if our paths shall part, to remember this day and treat you as I would wish you to be treated in this moment," Veronica said, and they repeated it.

"If you have words you wish to speak from the heart," said Krolia, "this is the time to do it."

"I love you, Lance," Keith said, surprising himself.

"I love you, too, Keith," Lance answered, sniffling, but smiling.

"Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai to family is complete," Veronica and Krolia said in unison.

"Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai to the human line is complete," Shiro said, and yeah, he was definitely crying- Keith could tell.

"Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai to the Galran line is complete," Acxa whispered.

"Kai'imam Und'ill Tak Thrull'sai to the Altean line is complete," Coran said, voice wavering a little. "Congratulations Paladins, you are betrothed."

Veronica and Acxa hooted and triggered a group hug, everyone piling onto them in excitement and happiness. He lost himself in the sheer joy of the moment, still clutching Lance's hands tight in his own until they were pulled apart for proper hugs by everyone. They were all crying, Lance kept commenting on it, complaining that no one had tissues.

Keith's eyes just kept drifting up to that beam of light, which was slowly dimming. Even fading away, it was so beautiful. He'd never seen anything as beautiful in his life… except… Lance grabbed him and kissed him and he used the bandage on his hand to wipe the tears from his perfect face.

Keith had never seen anything more beautiful than the Kra'Pau-Zol except… That smile. Those soft, affectionate eyes. The blue marks glowing gently in the fading light of sunset. _The vision from the Quantum abyss that had haunted him for years._ It wasn't sunset, it was this. It was here. This is what he'd seen. He'd seen their betrothal! The scent of juniberries filled his nose, crowding out everything, even the scent of Lance's skin and he knew, without a doubt… wherever she was, Allura was giving her blessing.

"I love you," Lance whispered, "my betrothed."

"I love you, too," he answered, "my betrothed."

"Are you ready?"

"I am," he answered, kissing Lance quickly, "we get a love story… let's go enjoy it."

_-Fini-_


End file.
